CTS Eventim has formerly challenged UK approval (which was recently reversed from Nay to Yea) of a possible merger between Ticketmaster Entertainment and Live Nation, and stated its concerns were not given proper hearing by U.K.’s Competition Commission, the antitrust authorities.

The Report may be found here in PDF format. In summary, the principal grounds of review on which Eventim are:

1. The Commission denied Eventim its right to a fair hearing, depriving Eventim of a reasonable opportunity to respond intelligently to the main reasons for the Commission’s reversal of its view on SLC and/or to comment specifically on the Commission’s analysis of (i) Eventim’s own German-language board documents and/or (ii) Eventim’s own forecasts for its proposed UK activities before adopting its final decision.
2. The Commission erred in its assessment of the relevant counterfactual – i.e. in assessing how competition would likely have developed absent the merger – because it wrongly failed to take account of relevant considerations, took account of irrelevant considerations, made an error of fact, made a finding that is not supported by adequate evidence and/or acted unreasonably.
3. The Commission erred in its assessment of the effect of the merger on the market because it acted unreasonably, failed to take account of relevant considerations, acted without any or any adequate evidence and/or failed to give adequate reasons. Moreover, in finding that the LOI would provide Eventim with an assured revenue stream for the provision of a managed ticketing service, the Commission failed to consider the likelihood and consequences of breach by Live Nation of its obligations under the LOI.
4. The Commission erred in its application of the SLC test, i.e. in assessing whether the merger would result in a substantial lessening of competition on any market as compared with the situation absent the merger (the counterfactual).

Ticketmaster, the world’s largest ticket-seller, and Live Nation, the biggest promoter of concerts, said they were sure the tribunal will uphold the commission’s ruling.

Concerns over the access of CTS, which the summary said is the world’s second- largest ticket retailer, to the British market prompted authorities to first oppose the deal, before reversing their decision months later.

“The commission denied Eventim its right to a fair hearing, depriving Eventim of a reasonable opportunity to respond intelligently to the main reasons for the commission’s reversal of its view,” the summary said.

“The commission erred in its assessment of the effect of the merger on the market.”

“The Competition Commission has definitively decided that the transaction does not raise issues that would harm competition,” the two companies said in an e-mailed statement. “This appeal is without merit.”

The merger, which kicked off in early 2008, combines the world's biggest concert promoter with the world's dominant ticketing and artist-management company. In February, Live Nation announced plans to buy Ticketmaster Entertainment for about $400 million in stock, drawing almost immediate criticism from those who felt the combined group would have unrivaled power over music fans and the prices they would have to pay.