Christopher BarrettKilimanjaro Live parent company DEAG has strengthened its reach in the spoken word and literary events segment with the acquisition of an 85% share in UK-based operation How To Academy via its subsidiary Fane Productions.
How To Academy promotes an extensive number of live events featuring speakers including artists, scientists, politicians and entrepreneurs. Along with staging readings, debates, conferences and courses every year, How To Academy also produces podcasts, live streams, films and publishes books. Among the people who have spoken at its events are Bill Gates, Al Gore, Paul Krugman, Madeleine Albright, Natalie Portman, Yuval Noah Harari and Ai Wei Wei.
DEAG said How To Academy MD John Gordon will remain on board in his role and continue to run the company in the long term together with his team, all of whom will remain with the company. It said a large share of the tickets for How To Academy events will be sold exclusively via DEAG’s ticketing platforms including Gigantic and Tickets.ie.
The Berlin-based pan-European promoter, venue operator and ticketing conglomerate, acquired UK-based literary events production company Fane Productions in October 2021. DEAG has proved acquisitive in recent years, purchasing companies including UK Live and Collective Form in 2021, Gigantic (2019), the Belladrum Festival in Scotland (2018) and The Flying Music Group (2017).
DEAG CEO Detlef Kornett said, “The addition of How To Academy’s complementary product range to our portfolio will result in significant synergy effects and cross-selling potential. How To Academy has a broad-based portfolio that perfectly complements our offering, especially for digital events. We see considerable growth opportunities in the Spoken Word & Literary Events segment and will unlock further added value through the acquisition of How To Academy. With Fane, lit.COLOGNE and How To Academy, we are in an excellent position to continue growth internationally and in Germany.”