Live Nation to buy Signatures Network, according to The NY Post

Posted by Sylar On Saturday, October 20, 2007

Fresh from stealing Madonna from Warner Music Group, concert promoter Live Nation is in advanced talks to acquire the Material Girl’s merchandising company, Signatures Network, The Post has learned.

A deal for Signatures Network, which holds the rights to license and market more than 125 artists including U2, Kanye West and Bruce Springsteen, is expected to be announced in the next two weeks, according to four sources close to the situation.

Live Nation is paying around $50 million for Signatures Network, these sources said, with one of them adding that the merchandising company generates about $120 million in annual revenue but operates with very small profit margins.

A spokesman for Live Nation declined to comment. Signatures Network CEO Dell Furano did not return a call for comment.

Live Nation has been quietly gobbling up ancillary businesses related to the concert industry as a way to extend its reach and diversify its revenue stream.

Earlier this year the company acquired the remaining stake in high-end concert T-shirt merchandiser Trunk it didn’t already own.

Last month it acquired the 50 percent portion of UltraStar it did not own. UltraStar runs the official artist Web sites for Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Police and others.

Live Nation also recently bought fan club ticketing service Musictoday and merchandising company Ant Hill Trading.

Signatures Network is bigger than all of those assets combined, however, with sources saying that the $50 million Live Nation is shelling out for the company is twice what it paid for the others.

Though it has focused solely on tour merchandising in the past, sources said Signatures Network was now looking to strike all-encompassing rights deals that would also include things like fragrances and accessories in addition to tour-related merchandise.

Source: Drowned Madonna

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