Seatwave angry at clear path for Ticketmaster and Live Nation merger

Britain's biggest ticket exchange today criticised the American authorities' decision last night to clear the £1 billion merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

Shares in both companies jumped sharply in New York. Live Nation promotes concerts by some of the world's biggest artists including U2, Madonna and Coldplay, while Ticketmaster is the world's biggest gig ticket seller.

But Joe Cohen, chief executive and founder of Seatwave, which allows fans to sell and exchange tickets with each other, predicted the merger will mean seat prices rise.

"The US Department of Justice has determined that the merger does not create an anti-competitive threat," he said. "However, we continue to believe this combination will result in higher ticket prices for fans.

"Primary market ticket prices have increased at approximately four per cent a year for the past 10 years, much higher than the CPI. And the stock market's welcome of the merger last night, which saw shares in both companies rise by as much as 16 per cent, would indicate that investors believe this trend will continue or possibly accelerate."

The Competition Commission recently overturned its original decision to block the merger.