Festicket’s Future Uncertain as Rescue Talks Continue

The future of London-based festival discovery and booking firm Festicket – which launched an office in Sydney and had partnerships with Australian festivals – is in question, reports The Ticketing Business.

The Company House corporate authority reported that Festicket has filed a moratorium, which businesses use to protect themselves from creditor action while working out a financial rescue plan.

London-based Resolve Advisory has been appointed as insolvency practitioner, to monitor and evaluate if the company can be saved.

The Ticketing Business quoted a source: “It is my understanding that the company directors are in exclusive negotiations with a third party, and this gives them some time (initially 20 days but this can be extended) to assess the situation and to potentially develop the plan for the company as a going concern.

“Unfortunately, for current clients and staff, the business may be considered beyond rescue.”

Festicket was founded by Zack Sabban, Jonathan Younes and Jerome Elfassy in 2011. 

It worked with festivals as official partners to provide general admission and VIP tickets to festivals around the world. 

These tickets are bundled together with travel, accommodation and various other add-ons. 

Festicket launched in Australia in 2018, with partnerships with Beyond The Valley, Jungle Love, Lost Paradise, Wildlands and For The Love.

Last August, TMN reported that Festicket added Promiseland and The Grass Is Greener to its local roster and launched its Event Genius platform in Australia.

At the time it planned to invest heavily in local talent, resources and tech partnerships as part of its plans to build a stronger domestic presence and hired senior account managers.

The company also set up offices in the U.S., the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal and France.

According to its website, it worked with over a thousand festivals in 50 countries and serviced 800,000 travellers since 2012.

In July 2021, its financials showed losses of €8,976,888 (AU$15,328,114) for 2020 and €12,934,107 ($22,085,566) for 2019.

Its report said it had a strategy in place to go into profitability “despite the COVID-19 global pandemic altering revenue expectations in the industry downwards in 2021.”

Earlier this month eight-year-old UK-based music, travel and experiences start-up Pollen fell into administration three months after raising US$150 million in new funding.