Court Grants Summary Judgment for Live Nation Entertainment in Class Action Antitrust Litigation

LOS ANGELES, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: LYV) was recently granted summary judgment in the first two cases that are part of the Live Concert Antitrust Litigation, a set of class action lawsuits originally commenced in 2002 and later consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.  While the order relates specifically to those two cases, Live Nation fully anticipates that the result ultimately will be applied to the remaining cases as well, effectively ending the litigation. 

“We are extremely pleased with the judge’s ruling in these cases, which validates our long-standing belief that they are without merit,” said Michael Rapino, Chief Executive Officer of Live Nation Entertainment.  “We’ve spent a considerable amount of time and money to prove that we’re right in this litigation.  We refused to be held hostage by frivolous class action lawsuits, and now we’ve been vindicated.  At this point, we’re looking forward to putting these lawsuits behind us and continuing to focus on innovating the live music experience for artists and fans.”

The allegations in the complaints relate exclusively to the period from 2001 to 2005, during which much of the business that is now Live Nation Entertainment was then the live entertainment division of Clear Channel Communications.  In issuing summary judgment in the Los Angeles and Denver cases, the court invalidated key elements of the plaintiffs’ expert testimony, effectively rejecting allegations that Live Nation had harmed consumers or engaged in anti-competitive behavior.  The full text of the order can be found at http://www.wsgr.com/PDFs/clearchannel.pdf.

About Live Nation Entertainment:
Live Nation Entertainment is the world’s leading live entertainment and ecommerce company, comprised of four market leaders: Ticketmaster.com, Live Nation Concerts, Front Line Management Group and Live Nation Network. Ticketmaster.com is the global event ticketing leader and one of the world’s top five ecommerce sites, with almost 27 million monthly unique visitors. Live Nation Concerts produces over 22,000 shows annually for more than 2,300 artists globally. Front Line is the world’s top artist management company, representing over 250 artists. These businesses power Live Nation Network, the leading provider of entertainment marketing solutions, enabling nearly 800 advertisers to tap into the 200 million consumers Live Nation delivers annually through its live event and digital platforms. For additional information, visit www.livenation.com/investors.