COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES |
9 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2020 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES Litigation
Consumer Class Actions
The following putative class action lawsuits were filed against Live Nation and/or Ticketmaster in the United States and Canada: Vaccaro v. Ticketmaster LLC (Northern District of Illinois, filed September 2018); Ameri v. Ticketmaster LLC (Northern District of California, filed September 2018); Lee v. Ticketmaster LLC, et al. (Northern District of California, filed September 2018); Thompson-Marcial v. Ticketmaster Canada Holdings ULC (Ontario Superior Court of Justice, filed September 2018); McPhee v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., et al. (Superior Court of Quebec, District of Montreal, filed September 2018); Crystal Watch v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., et al. (Court of Queen’s Bench for Saskatchewan, by amendments filed September 2018); Gaetano v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., et al. (Northern District of New York, filed October 2018); Dickey v. Ticketmaster LLC, et al. (Central District of California, filed October 2018); Gomel v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., et al. (Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vancouver Registry, filed October 2018); Smith v. Live Nation
Entertainment, Inc., et al. (Ontario Superior Court of Justice, filed October 2018); Messing v. Ticketmaster LLC, et al. (Central District of California, filed November 2018); and Niedbalski v. Ticketmaster LLC, et al. (Central District of California, filed December 2018).
In March 2019, the court granted the defendants’ motion to compel arbitration of the Dickey lawsuit and stayed the matter. The parties reached a settlement and the case was dismissed with prejudice in November 2019. In April 2019, the court granted the defendants’ motion to compel arbitration of the Lee lawsuit and dismissed the case. Lee subsequently appealed the District Court’s ruling to the Ninth Circuit, and in June 2020 the Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s ruling in the defendants’ favor. The Gaetano lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice by the plaintiff in April 2019. The Ameri lawsuit was dismissed in May 2019 in light of the parties’ agreement to arbitrate the matter, and the Vaccaro lawsuit was settled and dismissed in June 2019. The Messing and Niedbalski lawsuits are stayed pending the outcome of the appeal in the Lee matter.
The remaining lawsuits make similar factual allegations that Live Nation and/or Ticketmaster LLC engage in conduct that is intended to encourage the resale of tickets on secondary ticket exchanges at elevated prices. Based on these allegations, each plaintiff asserts violations of different state/provincial and federal laws. Each plaintiff also seeks to represent a class of individuals who purchased tickets on a secondary ticket exchange, as defined in each plaintiff’s complaint. The complaints seek a variety of remedies, including unspecified compensatory damages, punitive damages, restitution, injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees and costs. Based on information presently known to management, we do not believe that a loss is probable of occurring at this time, and believe that the potential liability, if any, will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position, cash flows or results of operations. Further, we do not currently believe that the claims asserted in these lawsuits have merit, and considerable uncertainty exists regarding any monetary damages that will be asserted against us. We intend to vigorously defend these actions.
CIE Arbitration
In July 2019, Ticketmaster New Ventures, S. de R.L. de C.V. (“TNV”), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of LNE, entered into agreements with Corporación Interamericana de Entretenimiento, S.A.B. de C.V. (“CIE”) and Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. (“TV”) to acquire an aggregate 51% interest in OCESA Entretenimiento, S.A. de C.V. (“OCESA”) and certain other related subsidiaries of CIE. We made our initial concentration notice filings with the regulatory authorities in Mexico in late August 2019 and received approval for the transaction in mid-April 2020. CIE shareholders approved the acquisition in September 2019. In May 2020, we notified CIE that we were terminating our agreement with it as a result of CIE’s failure to comply with its contractual obligation to continue operating the target companies in the ordinary course of business and the occurrence of a material adverse effect (as that term is defined in the CIE purchase agreement). We simultaneously notified TV that we were terminating our agreement with it, which agreement may be terminated if the agreement with CIE is terminated for any reason. On May 25, 2020, TNV commenced binding arbitration proceedings, seated in New York, New York, before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, seeking a declaratory judgment that it properly terminated the CIE purchase agreement and that any obligations thereunder are excused on the grounds set forth above, among others. On July 30, 2020, CIE filed its response to TNV’s claims, asserting, among other things, that CIE did not breach its obligation to continue operating the target companies in the ordinary course of business and that no material adverse effect (as that term is defined in the CIE purchase agreement) has occurred, and CIE joined LNE as a party to the arbitration proceedings as a joint obligor under the CIE purchase agreement. CIE is seeking specific performance to require us to proceed with closing under the CIE purchase agreement and damages in an unspecified amount arising from our alleged failure to timely close. We intend to vigorously defend these claims.
|