Christopher BarrettTicket re-sale operation Viagogo has reportedly offered to sell or lease all StubHub’s businesses outside North America.
The move follows significant concerns raised by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last month as a result of its ‘Phase 2’ investigation into the $4.05 billion (£3bn) merger of the two biggest secondary ticketing operators, which led it to suggest Viagogo may be required to sell all or part of StubHub.
Viagogo said it could sell the StubHub business outside North America, and the retained business would not market directly to UK customers or invest in search engine promotional activity on Goggle.co.uk.
It also proposed the buyer could use the StubHub UK brand for three years, followed by a year-long “blackout” during which Viagogo and the buyer would be unable to use the StubHub brand in the UK.
Adam Webb manager of anti-ticket touting campaigner FanFair Alliance said he had not yet seen the submission but from what has been reported it “looks pretty ludicrous”.
He said, “Viagogo is a discredited business that’s been at the heart of a major ticket mis-selling scandal, ripping off UK audiences to the tune of millions. The operators of this platform cannot be trusted. Even on initial glance, there are some glaring concerns with their reported proposal, which appears to suggest a three-year lease of StubHub UK’s business – not an outright sale. We have already raised these concerns with the CMA.”
A Viagogo spokesperson said: “We look forward to working with the CMA to deliver a comprehensive solution which addresses their concerns and we believe this proposal would achieve that.”