Reside music occasions organizer and promoter Superstruct Leisure reported a 25.9% YoY enhance in income for 2023 – the 12 months earlier than it was acquired by funding big KKR in a $1.4 billion deal.
The London-headquartered firm filed an earnings report for fiscal 2023 (ended December 31, 2023) with the UK’s Corporations Home on Monday (March 3), exhibiting income of GBP £178.6 million (USD $222.2 million on the common alternate fee for 2023). That’s up from £141.9 million in 2022.
Nevertheless, the corporate swung to an working lack of £33.26 million ($41.37 million), in comparison with an working revenue of £6.67 million the 12 months earlier than.
Superstruct attributed the rising income to its acquisitions of reside music corporations in numerous markets, together with the post-pandemic restoration of the reside music market.
It attributed the weaker revenue efficiency to “a rise in price of sale[s] resulting from common inflation and working prices resulting in an general lower in gross revenue.”
Superstruct additionally took a £31.4 million ($39.1 million) impairment cost “to mirror sure festivals which haven’t carried out as anticipated.”
The corporate’s administrators haven’t advisable that dividends be paid at the moment. The corporate additionally didn’t pay dividends for 2022.
By means of a wide range of subsidiaries, Superstruct operates greater than 80 music festivals within the UK, Europe, and Australia.
The corporate’s huge pageant portfolio consists of Boardmasters, Sziget, Sonar, Wacken Open Air, and extra.
The entire variety of attendees at Superstruct festivals reached 1.55 million in 2023, up 14.4% YoY from 1.36 million in 2022.
In 2023, 46.6% of Superstruct’s income got here from UK operations, whereas 30.2% got here from the remainder of Europe, with the remaining coming from elsewhere on the planet.
Ticket gross sales accounted for £118.8 million ($147.8 million) of Superstruct’s income, up 24.3% YoY. Meals, drinks, and merchandise gross sales got here to £40.18 million ($49.98 million), up 29.9% YoY. Sponsorship revenues got here in at £10.33 million ($12.85 million), up 6.7% YoY.
In June 2024, the corporate was acquired by KKR in a £1.3 billion ($1.39 billion) deal. Later within the 12 months, funding agency CVC joined KKR in possession of Superstruct.
The change of possession has not modified Superstruct’s technique of development by means of acquisitions. In January, Superstruct acquired music livestreaming platform Boiler Room from ticketing firm DICE. Based on its earnings report filed this week, Superstruct paid £25 million ($31.8 million on the present alternate fee) for Boiler Room.
The earnings report listed a variety of acquisitions by Superstruct in the course of the course of 2023, together with a 70% stake in SBH Occasions, operator of the annual Snowbombing EDM pageant held in Austria, for £3.95 million plus a efficiency bonus.
Superstruct additionally acquired a 70% stake in X The Tracks Ltd., operator of the Cross The Tracks funk, soul and jazz pageant in London, for £1.7 million, and 60% of the voting shares of Barcelona-based EDM occasions promoter Centris Occasions, for £3.48 million plus efficiency bonuses.
Superstruct additionally acquired a 67.7% stake – each instantly and not directly – in Mighty Hoopla Ltd., operator of London’s Mighty Hoopla pop music pageant, for £4.05 million plus a efficiency bonus.
“We’re nonetheless solely in seven or eight markets so who is aware of, perhaps we’ll broaden. However we’d slightly go deeper than wider, and have extra companies within the markets we’re already in to get the synergies going.”
James Barton, Superstruct
Based in 2017 by James Barton, the previous head of digital music at Reside Nation, and Roderik Schlösser, a former president at Windfall Fairness, Superstruct’s acquisition technique has made it the world’s second-largest pageant promoter in a comparatively brief time span.
In an interview on the Worldwide Reside Music Convention (ILMC) final month, Barton credited Superstruct’s relationship with Windfall Fairness for its skill to proceed its acquisition technique even in the course of the Covid downturn in reside music.
“Windfall was an unbelievable accomplice. They backed us from the start and thru Covid and so they labored arduous and continued to put money into us as a enterprise but additionally into companies coming into the group,” he mentioned, as quoted by IQ Magazine.
“However buyers have a shelf life,” he added, referring to KKR’s acquisition of Superstruct.
“Now we’re in a brand new period of our enterprise with KKR and CVC. We’re nonetheless solely in seven or eight markets so who is aware of, perhaps we’ll broaden. However we’d slightly go deeper than wider, and have extra companies within the markets we’re already in to get the synergies going,” Barton mentioned.
“We’re not going ‘South America is de facto scorching, let’s get on a airplane and determine easy methods to get in there’. We’re the place we will do job and whether or not there are good companions we will work with,” he added.
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