Saudi Arabia Purchases $500 Million Stake in Live Nation
Stock prices of several major companies in various industries have plummeted, and Saudi Arabia is taking advantage.
Earlier this month, the Saudi Public Investment Fund — the country’s sovereign (i.e., state-owned) wealth fund — purchased a $775 million stake in Carnival Cruises. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, they’ve acquired more than twelve million shares of Live Nation for roughly $500 million. With a 5.7% stake in the company — which also owns Ticketmaster — that makes the Saudi Public Investment Fund Live Nation’s third-largest shareholder (Liberty Media, which is owned by billionaire John C. Malone, remains the largest, with a 33% stake).
Unsurprisingly, seeing as every event in the entire goddamn world has now been postponed or cancelled, Live Nation has really taken it on the chin during the coronavirus pandemic, with its stock price plummeting more than 40% since the beginning of 2020. Interestingly, Metal Injection reports that the company’s share price has risen almost 10% since just this morning, when the Saudi Public Investment Fund disclosed the stake in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
That’s likely because in addition to the fact that Live Nation’s entire business is more or less on hold for the foreseeable future, Ticketmaster is now being sued because of the new refund exchange policy they quietly put into place earlier this month. The company has since reneged on that policy, which dictates customers can only get refunds if their event has been cancelled and not merely postponed or rescheduled; they’ll now open a thirty-day refund window for all events starting May 1. Still, it’s clear that the company needs money, and the Saudis’ investment has clearly given improved Wall Street’s confidence in Live Nation’s future.
Which is not to say that Saudi Arabia’s new stake in the company will be greeted with joy by everyone. After Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated in 2018 — likely under the orders of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — companies that had previously been eager to do business with the Saudi government suddenly started backing away in a hurry. So it will be interesting to see how artists react to this news.
