Stuart WoodSuperstruct Entertainment, the owner of Sziget and Elrow festivals, has acquired the organisers of heavy metal festival Wacken Open Air.
International Concert Service (ICS) are the organisers of Wacken Open Air, which draws 70,000 metal fans to Wacken, Germany every year.
ICS also produces and promotes ancillary events such as Hamburg Metal Dayz, the Wacen Winter Nights, and the Werner Race – which combines motorspot and live music.
Superstruct is part of global private equity conglomerate Providence Equity.
Providence Equity also owns major events business CloserStill, as well as video streaming platform Hulu and videogame publisher Zenimax Media.
Holger Hübner and Thomas Jensen (founders and co-CEOs of ICS) commenetd: “Joining the Superstruct network is terrific news for our team and our fans. We will continue providing world-class experiences through our portfolio of live events and now we are able to additionally benefit from a partner with a global network and experience.
“This will help us grow further and make what we do even better. We very much look forward to working with the Superstruct team to continue pushing the envelope. Our goal is always to inspire and enthuse heavy metal fans around the world and to make people happy with our live activities.”
James Barton, CEO of Superstruct, said: “We are very excited to join forces with ICS, the global leaders in metal. Led by Holger and Thomas, and supported by an experienced team overseeing a portfolio of quality events, we are confident that together we can continue to expand ICS and take the company and its events to the next level.”
ICS founders Holger Hübner and Thomas Jensen, as well as the rest of the current leadership team, will remain responsible for the day-to-day management of the business after the transaction closes.