CVC Capital Partners announced today that the CVC Growth Fund has agreed to invest in DTI Management, one of the largest suppliers of live event ticket inventory to leading online marketplaces through its unique inventory management platform. CVC and New Amsterdam Growth Capital, which is also investing in the Company alongside CVC, provided $75 million of funding.
Established in 2012 and based in Alexandria, Virginia, DTI streamlines live event ticket distribution, and provides a more controlled secondary ticket selling environment for sports teams, event producers, music artists, venues, and ticket brokers. DTI's current partners include the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Devils, and Phoenix Suns. DTI also supplies ticket inventory to various partners, including StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid Seats, and Ticketmaster.
"We are very excited to partner with CVC for our next phase of growth as we continue to develop a transparent and accountable global distribution platform for sports and live entertainment tickets," said Curtis Cheng, Founder and CEO of DTI. "This investment will allow DTI to continue scaling our platform, which has emerged as the leading choice for ticket brokers, and to secure access to large scale ticketing deals on their behalf. It will also enable us to continue to invest in expanded technology and product offerings in order to support our vision of being the global leader in the distribution of sports and live entertainment tickets."
The online event ticket sales industry has been growing steadily amid the shift from physical tickets and at-home printing to a fully digital and mobile ticketing experience. Online ticket sellers are expected to remain the main source for fans to buy tickets for sporting events, concerts, festivals, and public appearances.
"DTI is a clear industry leader, bringing transparency and accountability to the secondary ticket selling environment, while also providing value to key constituents in the ticket value chain," said John Clark, Managing Partner of CVC Growth Partners. "The secondary ticketing market has seen strong growth in recent years, and we are excited to partner with Curtis and his management team."
CVC Growth Partners has previously announced investments in Kount, a leading U.S. provider of online and mobile fraud detection and prevention solutions, and in Wireless Logic, Europe's leader in M2M networks. CVC Growth Partners manages $1 billion in equity commitments.
About DTI Management
Recognizing a pressing need for innovation and leadership in the secondary ticket market, DTI Management (www.dtimanagement.com) has effectively established the first ever full-service inventory distribution solution. At the heart of this solution is DTI's software platform, which efficiently manages the full ticket lifecycle, from listing to sale to fulfillment, thus reducing overhead costs and enhancing logistics for sports teams, event producers, music artists, venues and ticket brokers. The DTI solution also offers its users real-time data analytics, dynamic pricing, revenue sharing and enhanced marketing strategies. Founded in 2012, DTI has experienced strong year-over-year growth and was recently recognized by the Washington Business Journal as one of the 50 Fastest Growing Businesses.
About CVC Capital Partners
CVC Capital Partners is a leading private equity and investment advisory firm. Founded in 1981, CVC today has a network of 24 offices and approximately 340 employees throughout Europe, Asia and the U.S. To date, CVC has secured commitments of more than US$65 billion from some of the world's leading institutional investors across its European and Asian private equity, strategic opportunities and growth funds. In total, CVC currently manages over US$33 billion of assets. Today, funds managed or advised by CVC are invested in 51 companies worldwide, employing c.330,000 people in numerous countries. Together, these companies have combined annual sales of over US$90 billion. For further information about CVC please visit: www.cvc.com
About CVC Growth Partners
In 2014, CVC formed a new team to target smaller growth-oriented companies through its dedicated CVC Growth Partners. The fund focuses on middle-market high-growth companies in the software and technology-enabled business services sectors. The fund primarily targets equity investments between $50mm and $200mm in North America and Europe.
About New Amsterdam Growth Capital
New Amsterdam Growth Capital ("NAGC") is a New York based growth equity fund. The firm provides capital and expertise to growing technology companies. NAGC actively partners with founders and entrepreneurs to help build market leaders. In aggregate, the team has invested nearly $500 million in more than 30 tech-enabled companies. For further information about NAGC please visit: www.nagrowth.com
