Ticketfly acquires WillCall
In every industry there are typically major players that stand out above others in the marketplace. Just because there may be a handful of established and successful companies that are associated with a certain industry, it does not mean that smaller players can't make strides to catch up and become more competitive.
Even when a company is not the biggest fish in the pond, it may still be in the position to expand and become more competitive through a merger or acquisition deal. In some cases, these deals serve the purpose of allowing the company to gain technology it would not have had otherwise, or to benefit from the addition of a team of talented employees that will help the purchasing company achieve its development goals.
A recent example that illustrates this point is the acquisition of WillCall by Ticketfly. Ticketfly is a company that provides a marketing platform for venues and event promoters to market their events, with the ultimate goal of allowing them to increase ticket sales. WillCall is a concert application that allows users to purchase tickets.
As detailed in a Tech Crunch article, Ticketfly is America's second largest seller of concert tickets. The acquisition of this company allows Ticketfly to eliminate a potential competitor while becoming a stronger competitor against some of its main competition, ticket selling website TicketMaster.
By adding the functionality of WillCall's app, Ticketfly will be able to improve its services and become a stronger player in the market. However, before making the decision to be acquired, WillCall would have had to weigh the decision and decide if the acquisition strategy made sense.
An M&A advisor can serve as a trusted resource to provide guidance during this critical decision making process.