The UK's Kilimanjaro Live has founded joint venture Singular Artists with promoters Fin O’Leary (pictured) , Brian Hand and Simon Merriman to organise shows in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The move is the latest step in the international growth of Kilimanjaro's parent company, German promoting giant DEAG, which is pressing ahead with its expansion plans despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
Singular Artists is to be developed into a strong independent brand in the coming years, with Kilimanjaro holding majority 55% stake in the JV. In addition, DEAG also plans to expand its own ticketing business with the Group’s own ticketing platforms MyTicket and Gigantic.com to Ireland following theoperational launch of Singular Artists.
Kilimanjaro CEO Stuart Galbraith said: “We are pleased that this expansion opportunity has opened up for us in these challenging times for the live entertainment industry. We are all looking forward to presenting concerts and events to our audience again soon. Ireland is an attractive market within the EU. We are starting off with a strong team and are now building the foundations to conquer the Irish market once the pandemic ends. The DEAG Group’s strength also lies in the fact that it recognises such opportunities and has the ability to seize them.”
DEAG is expanding despite the crisis
Detlef Kornett, DEAG
O’Leary, Hand and Merriman are established promoters in the Irish event market, having worked for Aiken Promotions, among others.
Detlef Kornett, member of the executive board of DEAG, said: “DEAG is expanding despite the crisis. We are not only retaining our key personnel in the Group, but even expanding it. The Irish market is extremely attractive. We will position ourselves there with top-class content and grow. Already today, over 8,000 events are held in Ireland every year. Together with our own events, these form an excellent basis for the expansion of our ticketing activities to Ireland.”
