Reside Nation (LYV) inventory fell about 7% early Tuesday after the Wall Avenue Journal reported the Division of Justice (DOJ) is getting ready to file an antitrust lawsuit in opposition to the corporate as quickly as subsequent month.
In keeping with the report, the DOJ will allege that Reside Nation, the mum or dad firm of Ticketmaster, has “leveraged its dominance” within the market to hurt rivals.
The federal authorities permitted the Reside Nation-Ticketmaster merger in 2010. Since then, the corporate has been on the heart of antirust issues with critics taking purpose at its sky-high ticket charges and accusing the leisure large of monopolistic practices and anti-competitive conduct.
In 2020, the division up to date the corporate’s consent decree, an settlement which barred Reside Nation from strong-arming venues into utilizing Ticketmaster for its excursions, and prolonged it till 2025 after discovering proof the corporate repeatedly and over the course of a number of years engaged in conduct that violated its earlier settlement.
In the meantime, Capitol Hill ramped up its struggle in opposition to Reside Nation throughout a Senate Judiciary Committee listening to at first of final 12 months following a 2022 fiasco with Taylor Swift live performance tickets.
On the time, a number of senators known as for a breakup of the corporate though some Wall Avenue analysts have argued a break up would not essentially remedy the issues surrounding the unregulated secondary ticket market.
Analysts have additionally stated Reside Nation could be a “shell of itself” with out Ticketmaster as that entity makes up the majority of the earnings.
In its newest earnings report, the corporate noticed its fiscal 12 months 2023 income surge 36% 12 months over 12 months to $22.7 billion whereas earnings per share greater than doubled to $1.37. Live performance attendance climbed 20% as over 145 million followers attended over 50,000 occasions.
Within the face of Tuesday’s inventory declines, shares are down about 1% for the reason that begin of the 12 months.
Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Observe her on X @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and e mail her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
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