Uplift Wrote:Gelukkig nieuwjaar, snackbar:

http://www.cosmosisfestival.com/

Uplift Wrote:Gelukkig nieuwjaar, snackbar:

http://www.cosmosisfestival.com/

Quote:Moederbedrijf Awakenings en ID&T overweegt faillissement

Na maanden van zwaar weer overweegt het Amerikaanse mediaconcern SFX Entertainment om faillissement aan te vragen, meldt het Amerikaanse zakenblad Forbes.

Het bedrijf achter onder meer ID&T, b2s en Awakenings boekte in de eerste zes maanden van het jaar een nettoverlies van krap 90 miljoen dollar (79,6 miljoen euro).

Het bedrijf zou tevergeefs hebben gezocht naar externe geldschieters en overnamepartijen.

Kredietbeoordelaar Moody’s betwijfelde eerder openlijk of het nog wel goed zou komen met SFX. Met het geld dat werd opgehaald met de beursgang in 2013 ging SFX op overnamepad. Mogelijk was dat iets te enthousiast.
Terugkopen

Rocco Veenboer, de Nederlandse bedenker en directeur van het festival Awakenings verklaarde in Het Parool dat hij het evenement terug wil kopen van de Amerikaanse eigenaar.

Veenboer verkocht Awakenings in september 2014 aan SFX voor 16,5 miljoen euro en bleef aan als directeur.

"Mocht SFX omvallen, dan sta ik klaar', zegt Veenboer in de krant. "Maar ik hoef geen 100 procent aandeel meer te hebben."

Ook ID&T zou plannen hebben om het bedrijf geheel of gedeeltelijk terug te kopen als het misloopt bij SFX.

Quote:SFX Entertainment Considers Filing For Bankruptcy 26-Months After $260 Million IPO

Electronic dance music promoter SFX Entertainment is considering filing for bankruptcy.

The potential restructuring comes after founder and CEO Robert Sillerman strung investors along a ten month takeover process that included multiple failed bids, in addition to a flurry of capital infusions to keep the money losing company afloat. For SFX, which listed its shares on the Nasdaq at a valuation exceeding $1 billion in Oct. 2013, a filing would cap the company’s stunning unraveling.

NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 09: (L-R) Sheldon Finkel, Vice Chairman, Afrojack, Bob F.X. Sillerman, CEO of SFX and Mitchell Slater, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. (Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images)

Initially, investors flocked to SFX’s shares in hopes that Sillerman would be able to roll-up the fragmented EDM industry and create a live entertainment powerhouse similar an effort in the 1990s where he spent $1.2 billion buying regional music promoters before selling the venture (also called SFX) to Clear Channel for $3.3 billion in 2000. Those assets were central to Live Nation’s takeover of Clear Channel a few years later. In the 2000s, Sillerman created a vehicle that acquired the Elvis Presley estate and hit TV show American Idol, before selling the business, CKX, to Apollo Global in 2011.

With SFX Entertainment, Sillerman raised $260 million in the 2013 stock offering, giving him currency to buy EDM festivals in the United States, Europe and Latin America. Those included TomorrowLand, Mysteryland, Life In Color, Electric Zoo and Sensation. SFX also sold some $300 million in notes to fund its expansion.

By the beginning of 2015, Sillerman had assembled a powerhouse in the EDM business with over $350 million in annual revenues; a direct competitor to Live Nation. The only problem was amid this expansion phase, SFX was unable to deliver the profits it had promised to investors. As losses mounted and investors lost trust, SFX began quickly burning through its cash. In February 2015, Sillerman offered to take SFX private, a bid he improved months later.

However, as the deal moved to a closing in June, SFX sold shares in secondary stock offering that indicated the company was running into financial difficulty. FORBES first reported on the troubling implications of these stock sales, in addition to SFX’s extensions to the take-private bid. Filings reviewed by FORBES later showed that SFX sold some stock to tap its revolving credit facility, which had been amended to be fully collateralized.

Ultimately, Sillerman was unable cobble together financing or JV partners for his take private bid. He reneged on the deal in August, after a series of extensions granted by the SFX board.

Days after pulling out of the deal, Sillerman told FORBES, “we don’t have enough time on this call to talk about the mistakes I made,” when discussing how his company had fallen in such disarray. Nonetheless, he offered an upbeat tone and a “zero percent chance” the company would go bankrupt.

Weeks later, on Sept. 17, Sillerman cut a deal to inject a further $30 million to keep SFX afloat. And a month after the capital infusion, he returned to SFX with a new non-binding $175 million takeover proposal. However, between the initial cash infusion and the new take-private offer, Sillerman was unable to complete a $15 million leg of the cash infusion, as FORBES first reported. In November, he withdrew the non-binding bid.

On Dec. 31, GoldenTree Asset Management assigned SFX’s revolving credit facility to Calayst Fund Limited Partnership V and entered a forbearance agreement. Thursday, SFX said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission it has hired FTI Consulting as a chief restructuring officer. Bankruptcy is now on the table.

For Sillerman, a filing will be a painful end to what’s been a disastrous venture into EDM. He owns roughly 40% of SFX’s outstanding stock, in addition to preferred shares. Here’s what SFX said about its potential bankruptcy:

In connection with its obligations under the Forbearance and Amendment Agreement, the Company has retained financial advisory firm FTI Consulting, Inc. (“FTI”) to serve as the Company’s Chief Restructuring Officer. FTI will assist the Company in evaluating and assessing various restructuring and strategic alternatives, including working with management to analyze and optimize operations and financial performance. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in identifying or implementing, on favorable terms or at all, any financial or strategic alternatives, which may include restructuring the Company’s debt, the issuance of additional equity or debt, or the sale of some or all of the Company’s assets. In order to facilitate its reorganization, the Company may consider utilizing the available protections under the federal bankruptcy laws.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2016/01/07/sfx-entertainment-considers-filing-for-bankruptcy-26-months-after-260-million-ipo/

Quote:The Fall Of SFX: From Billion-Dollar Company To Bankruptcy
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2015/08/24/the-fall-of-an-edm-empire-sfx/

Quote:Apple Music heeft een belangrijke mijlpaal gehaald: met 10 miljoen betalende abonnees zijn ze precies half zo groot als Spotify. De concurrerende muziekdienst had vorig jaar 20 miljoen betalende klanten. Het betekent dat Apple Music in slechts een halfjaar een spectaculaire groei heeft doorgemaakt.

De cijfers zijn overigens niet officieel vrijgegeven door Apple, maar zijn onthuld door insiders waarmee The Financial Times heeft gesproken. De vraag is dan ook niet zozeer of Apple Music op termijn ooit Spotify gaat inhalen, maar hoe snel dat gebeurt. Met de huidige groeicijfers staan bij Apple Music alle seinen op groen om ergens in 2017 de grootste muziekdienst ter wereld te zijn. Dat denkt Mark Mulligan, die als analist de muziekwereld volgt.

Quote:Als marketingbrein van festival Best Kept Secret, waarbij hij voortdurend focus legde op de muzikale inhoud van het festival.