Fandango to Buy Brazilian Online Ticket Seller for $71 Million

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Comcast Corp.’s online movie ticket retailer Fandango yesterday signed an agreement to purchase Brazilian online ticket retailer Ingresso.com for $71 million, according to a securities filing.

Fandango, based in West Los Angeles, will buy Ingresso from Brazilian e-commerce company B2W Companhia Digital, which wanted to offload its ticketing subsidiary to focus on its other businesses.

In addition to selling movie tickets, Ingresso sells tickets to concerts, soccer games and cultural events. The company has 6 million registered customers and does all its business in Brazil. The acquisition is subject to regulatory review and is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Despite Brazil’s troubled economy, which is projected by the Brazilian Central Bank to shrink by 2.7 percent this year, Fandango sees Latin America as a growth market over the long term.

Brazil accounted for 40 percent of Latin American box office revenue in 2014, Fandango pointed out, citing data from research firm Rentrak. The Motion Picture Association of America has estimated that Brazil is the 11th largest theatrical market in the world and it is projected to climb to the fifth largest market by the end of 2020.

“There’s a lot of development going on in the retail shopping space, almost all of which is anchored with a movie theater,” said Fandango President Paul Yanover. “This is a part of the world where they are continuing to build and launch theaters.”

The purchase of Ingresso is Fandango’s first outside the United States. In addition to Latin America, Fandango is eyeing several Asian markets for future expansion.

Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.

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