During an ADE Q&A panel between ID&T founder & CEO Duncan Sutterheim and SFX head of acquisitions Shelly Finkle, it was announced that SFX had gained full ownership of ID&T. Sutterheim told the crowd,
“We finalized the deal an hour ago. Instead of the previous 75-percent, ID&T is now going to be 100-percent owned by SFX. Now it’s very clear, I work for SFX. I will be working at head office in Europe, and we’re going to create still the same shows. But from this point, ID&T and SFX will be together.”
ID&T, who is responsible for events like Sensation, Tomorrowland, and the recent TomorrowWorld, had initially shown hesitation toward outside investors at last year’s ADE panel. When describing his decision to sell, Sutterheim cited the growing SFX empire—which includes Australia’s Stereosonic music festival and the American Life in Color paint party series—and the companies’ previous experience working together in the US. Additionally, Sutterheim expressed the simple need for capital, saying:
“As we continued to work together, at some point a list came up of the possibilities of what could be done if we sold the company. TomorrowWorld was an example of that; the festival cost 16 million dollars to put up. Those are amounts of money that we just don’t have. We are a big company, but we can’t invest that kind of money. So it was an opportunity for the company to grow.”
The pair also teased other opportunities for the merger, including a potential ticketing arm and the expansion of Beatport into a digital content platform. This all comes fresh off SFX’s IPO last week, so there’s sure to be more information coming soon.
Source: InTheMix
