Christopher BarrettPlaypass, headquartered in Belgium, and France-based Weezevent have merged to form a singless cashless technology supplier that boasts more than 1,200 clients.
The combined Playpass-Weezevent group’s clients include Lollapalooza Berlin (cap. 74,00), Lollapalooza Chile (17,000) and numerous UK festivals such as Standon Calling (17,000), Black Deer (20,000) and the inaugural Unlocked Festival (10,000).
Its sports clients include brands such as Formula One, Paris St. Germain FC and the William Hill World Darts Championship.
The company will comprise of six offices, with more than 100 employees, and a combined annual turnover of more than £400m. The united force will be looking to build on the use of its NFC (near-field contact) wristbands and cards at events across Europe at a time when contactless transactions have become ubiquitous.
The merged operation’s UK division will be headed up by former PlayPass UK & Ireland MD Steve Jenner and Weezevent UK manager Olly Goddard.
The organisation said it also aims to expand the group’s offices in Paris, Madrid, Antwerp, Lausanne and Montreal, with extra investment channeled into the in-house development team.
Weezevent CEO Pierre-Henri Deballon said, “After eight years of healthy competition, the time has come to form a new team that is stronger, more ambitious and more confident than ever.”
David De Wever, co-founder of Playpass, added, “Our two companies are highly complementary and the consolidation of our expertise and experience now makes it possible to form the leader in cashless event solutions.
“The return to a normal post-Covid situation will accelerate the adoption of cashless everywhere. This is about being ready for the market while continuing to innovate.”
Goddard said, “2020 promised a much wider adoption of cashless technology at events before our industry was put into lockdown. Though this natural progression was interrupted, we are looking forward to a productive 2021 and beyond, and our merger with PlayPass will put us in an even stronger position to deliver what consumers want and events need.”
Jenner added, “To join forces with [Weezevent] at this time is a really exciting opportunity for us, our clients and the UK’s live events industry, placing us in a much stronger position to not only help the sector get back on its feet faster, but to emerge stronger than ever.”