Live Nation Acquires Founders Entertainment, Governors Ball Festival
Live Nation has acquired a majority stake in Founders Entertainment, parent company of the successful New York festival Governors Ball. First launched in 2011 by a group of independent promoters, Governors Ball has been the only major non-EDM festival to take root in the challenging New York market, drawing 150,000 fans to Randall's Island in 2015.
Other events such as Jay Z's Made in America and the country music focused Farmborough both failed to find traction in the region. But now Live Nation's competitor AEG is planning to move into the market, announcing earlier this year that they were launching Panorama, a major new festival which is also set to take place on Randalls Island this summer.
Live Nation did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement.
Tom Russell and Jordan Wolowitz, Founders’ majority partners, told the New York Times that the deal was essential for Founders Entertainment to remain competitive in the increasingly competitive market.
“These events are so high-risk for us that if we were to launch a new event and it were to fail, it would cripple us,” Russell told The Times. “By partnering up with a company that empowers entrepreneurs,” he said, Founders would “not have the fear that a new venture would really put us in the street.” –
