Live Nation Entertainment is set to acquire an additional 24% stake in Mexican concert promoter OCESA, accelerating a purchase agreement.
The USD $646 million transaction, announced Tuesday (July 29), will see Live Nation increase its ownership in OCESA to 75% from its current 51% stakeholding.
Former OCESA owner, CIE (Corporación Interamericana de Entretenimiento), will retain a 25% stake.
In addition, Live Nation has secured a contract with OCESA boss Alejandro Soberón to remain CEO of the company through 2032.
The deal is now expected to close by the end of August, following approval at the upcoming CIE shareholder vote.
A put/call agreement for CIE’s remaining 25% stake has been pushed back to 2032.
Live Nation originally acquired a controlling 51% stake in OCESA in December 2021 for MXN $8.835 billion (USD $416 million at 2021 exchange rates), following a deal that was initially agreed in 2019 but delayed due to the pandemic.
Live Nation has confirmed to MBW that its new acquisition of the additional 24% in OCESA will cost just over MXN $12 billion (USD $646 million).
Across the two transactions (the 51% in 2021 and 24% in 2025), that’s comfortably more than a billion dollars changing hands.
The rise in value in OCESA’s equity over the past four years will have been influenced by the rapid commercial growth of the Mexican live market in the same timeframe.
Speaking today, Michael Rapino, President and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment, said: “Our investment in OCESA has been incredibly successful, and Alejandro and his team have done a tremendous job utilizing the global Live Nation infrastructure to drive growth in Mexico.
“Together we have more than tripled the number of fans attending our concerts in Mexico since 2019, making Mexico now the 3rd largest music market in the world, and I expect we have many years of strong growth ahead of us.”
OCESA operates 13 venues across Mexico and promotes thousands of events annually. Its ticketing arm, Ticketmaster Mexico, sells around 20 million tickets per year.
Alejandro Soberón, Founder, Executive Chairman, and CEO of Grupo CIE, as well as Founder and CEO of OCESA, said: “Live Nation and Michael Rapino have been ideal partners.
“The combination of our market knowledge and Live Nation’s expertise have come together to create more opportunities for artists to perform in Mexico and for fans to enjoy these shows.”
The OCESA deal forms part of Live Nation’s broader Latin American expansion strategy.
In May, the company acquired Dominican Republic promoter SD Concerts, citing fan attendance in the region up over 25% in the first quarter of 2025.
Live Nation has also expanded into Colombia through OCESA’s acquisition of Páramo Presenta, the promoter behind major festivals including Estereo Picnic.Music Business Worldwide
