Live music events organizer and promoter Superstruct Entertainment reported a 25.9% YoY increase in revenue for 2023 – the year before it was acquired by investment giant KKR in a $1.4 billion deal.
The London-headquartered company filed an earnings report for fiscal 2023 (ended December 31, 2023) with the UK’s Companies House on Monday (March 3), showing revenue of GBP £178.6 million (USD $222.2 million at the average exchange rate for 2023). That’s up from £141.9 million in 2022.
However, the company swung to an operating loss of £33.26 million ($41.37 million), compared to an operating profit of £6.67 million the year before.
Superstruct attributed the rising revenue to its acquisitions of live music companies in various markets, along with the post-pandemic recovery of the live music market.
It attributed the weaker profit performance to “an increase in cost of sale[s] due to general inflation and running costs leading to an overall decrease in gross profit.”
Superstruct also took a £31.4 million ($39.1 million) impairment charge “to reflect certain festivals which have not performed as expected.”
The company’s directors have not recommended that dividends be paid at this time. The company also did not pay dividends for 2022.
Through a variety of subsidiaries, Superstruct operates more than 80 music festivals in the UK, Europe, and Australia.
The company’s vast festival portfolio includes Boardmasters, Sziget, Sonar, Wacken Open Air, and more.
The total number of attendees at Superstruct festivals reached 1.55 million in 2023, up 14.4% YoY from 1.36 million in 2022.
In 2023, 46.6% of Superstruct’s revenue came from UK operations, while 30.2% came from the rest of Europe, with the rest coming from elsewhere in the world.
Ticket sales accounted for £118.8 million ($147.8 million) of Superstruct’s revenue, up 24.3% YoY. Food, drinks, and merchandise sales came to £40.18 million ($49.98 million), up 29.9% YoY. Sponsorship revenues came in at £10.33 million ($12.85 million), up 6.7% YoY.
In June 2024, the company was acquired by KKR in a £1.3 billion ($1.39 billion) deal. Later in the year, investment firm CVC joined KKR in ownership of Superstruct.
The change of ownership has not changed Superstruct’s strategy of growth through acquisitions. In January, Superstruct acquired music livestreaming platform Boiler Room from ticketing company DICE. According to its earnings report filed this week, Superstruct paid £25 million ($31.8 million at the current exchange rate) for Boiler Room.
The earnings report listed a number of acquisitions by Superstruct during the course of 2023, including a 70% stake in SBH Events, operator of the annual Snowbombing EDM festival held in Austria, for £3.95 million plus a performance bonus.
Superstruct also acquired a 70% stake in X The Tracks Ltd., operator of the Cross The Tracks funk, soul and jazz festival in London, for £1.7 million, and 60% of the voting shares of Barcelona-based EDM events promoter Centris Events, for £3.48 million plus performance bonuses.
Superstruct also acquired a 67.7% stake – both directly and indirectly – in Mighty Hoopla Ltd., operator of London’s Mighty Hoopla pop music festival, for £4.05 million plus a performance bonus.
“We’re still only in seven or eight markets so who knows, maybe we’ll expand. But we’d rather go deeper than wider, and have more businesses in the markets we’re already in to get the synergies going.”
James Barton, Superstruct
Founded in 2017 by James Barton, the former head of electronic music at Live Nation, and Roderik Schlösser, a former president at Providence Equity, Superstruct’s acquisition strategy has made it the world’s second-largest festival promoter in a relatively short time span.
In an interview at the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) last month, Barton credited Superstruct’s relationship with Providence Equity for its ability to continue its acquisition strategy even during the Covid downturn in live music.
“Providence was an unbelievable partner. They backed us from the beginning and through Covid and they worked hard and continued to invest in us as a business but also into businesses coming into the group,” he said, as quoted by IQ Mag.
“But investors have a shelf life,” he added, referring to KKR’s acquisition of Superstruct.
“Now we are in a new era of our business with KKR and CVC. We’re still only in seven or eight markets so who knows, maybe we’ll expand. But we’d rather go deeper than wider, and have more businesses in the markets we’re already in to get the synergies going,” Barton said.
“We’re not going ‘South America is really hot, let’s get on a plane and figure out how to get in there’. We’re looking at where we can do a good job and whether there are good partners we can work with,” he added.
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