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Online secondary ticket marketplace\u00a0Vivid Seats<\/a>\u00a0is looking for a buyer and they\u2019re\u00a0hoping to fetch a price of about\u00a0$1.5 billion, TechCrunch has learned.<\/p>\n According to multiple sources, private equity firm Vista Equity Partners is working with Morgan Stanley to unload Vivid, which could net a tidy profit for\u00a0the firm a little over a\u00a0year after acquiring the business\u00a0for about $850 million.<\/p>\n Vivid Seats might not\u00a0have the same name recognition as\u00a0Ticketmaster or\u00a0StubHub, but the Chicago-based firm\u00a0has been a force in selling seats at concerts, theaters and sports events. Founded in 2001, the company had grown to become the third-largest secondary ticket seller in the U.S.\u00a0by the time it\u00a0received its strategic investment<\/a> from Vista early last year.<\/p>\n According to one source,\u00a0tech companies like\u00a0Amazon and Priceline had taken\u00a0a look at Vivid Seats\u00a0but decided not to acquire it. We also heard that eBay-owned StubHub is not interested.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported on its terminal that Vista was considering a sale \u201cafter receiving inbound interest,\u201d but did not offer further detail.<\/p>\n One\u00a0challenge for Vivid is that it gets a large portion of its traffic from misleading affiliate sites. Customers are sometimes lured to a destination that\u2019s not actually associated with the team or artist, a controversial practice within the industry.<\/p>\n It\u2019s possible that Vivid Seats will not find a suitable strategic buyer and will sell to another private equity firm. One source mentioned Carlyle Group, but a different source suggested that would be unlikely because they own PrimeSport, a competitor in the space.<\/p>\n If Vivid can\u2019t fetch its desired acquisition price, perhaps Vista will keep it in its portfolio until it grows its value.<\/p>\n When asked for comment, Vivid\u00a0said \u201cwe don\u2019t comment on industry rumors.\u201d<\/p>\n Featured Image: Getty Images<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/07\/gettyimages-602982753.jpg?w=680\")
Online secondary ticket marketplace Vivid Seats is looking for a buyer and they’re hoping to fetch a price of about $1.5 billion, TechCrunch has learned. According to multiple sources, private equity firm Vista Equity Partners is working with Morgan Stanley to unload Vivid, which could net a tidy profit for the firm a little over a year after acquiring the business for about $850 million. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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