Comcast Said to Work With Ticketmaster, Live Nation (Update2)

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Comcast Corp. is working with Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. and Live Nation Inc. to help the two companies salvage their music industry merger now under U.S. antitrust scrutiny, said two people familiar with the matter.

Comcast, the largest U.S. cable operator, controls an arena-management company and ticket seller. The Philadelphia- based company may receive spinoffs of ticketing software and client contracts as part of a proposal to alleviate Justice Department concerns that the Ticketmaster-Live Nation deal would inhibit competition, said the people, who declined to be identified because the deliberations are private.

Comcast has met with Justice Department officials about the proposal, the people said. Antitrust regulators must determine whether it’s enough to approve the Ticketmaster-Live Nation deal, one of the people said. A Comcast unit controls facilities manager Global Spectrum and New Era Tickets, whose clients include the National Basketball Association’s Philadelphia 76ers and World Wresting Entertainment Inc.

“Coming up with someone like Comcast that is willing to put resources in to this business has got to be a positive,” Marc Schildkraut, an antitrust attorney with Howrey LLP in Washington, said in an interview. “DOJ will have to figure out whether it can find a workable deal with the assets Ticketmaster and Live Nation have proposed or if a more enhanced package is more appropriate.”

Comcast Subsidiary

A Justice Department spokeswoman, Gina Talamona, declined to comment. A spokesman for Ticketmaster and Live Nation declined to comment. Ike Richman, a spokesman for Comcast- Spectacor, declined to comment.

Comcast fell 34 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $15.51 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. West Hollywood, California-based Ticketmaster rose 14 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $11.45. Live Nation, based in Beverly Hills, California, rose 3 cents to $7.97 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Comcast, through subsidiary Comcast-Spectacor, owns the 76ers, the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team and Wachovia Center in the city. The unit, which also oversees the facilities and ticketing businesses, was among the investors that sold ticket service and software provider Paciolan to Ticketmaster in 2007.

Comcast is separately in talks with General Electric Co. to create a company that would include GE’s New York-based NBC Universal, people familiar with the matter have said.

Concert Promotion

That deal also could be subject to government scrutiny. Consumer advocacy groups said they would ask regulators to block a Comcast-NBC deal because the transaction would leave Comcast with too much power over content that viewers see.

The proposed Ticketmaster and Live Nation merger would combine the world’s largest ticketing and artist management company with the biggest concert promoter and venue operator. Executives at the two companies said the deal will create a new business model for an industry that has been hurt by declining compact-disc sales.

Under terms of the deal, Ticketmaster investors are to receive 1.384 shares of Live Nation for each they now own. The companies have a combined market value of $1.3 billion.

Shareholders of Ticketmaster and Live Nation will vote on the deal on Jan. 8, according to regulatory filings.

Ticketmaster’s largest music client, Anschutz Entertainment Group, owner of Staples Center in Los Angeles and O2 Arena in London, is exploring whether to replace Ticketmaster, according to two people familiar with the deliberations.

To contact the reporters on this story: Justin Blum in Washington at jblum4@bloomberg.netAdam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jim Kirk at jkirk12@bloomberg.net Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net.