Pandora is said to be shopping for a buyer of Ticketfly, the online ticketing service it acquired less than two years ago for nearly half a billion dollars. According to Bloomberg, a sale of its ticketing unit is seen as a backup plan in case attempts to find a buyer for the entire company -- a possibility revealed last week -- do not pan out.
Last week, Pandora reported that revenue for its ticketing service was $27.8 million in the first quarter, a 25 percent year-over-year increase. By offloading this successful side of its portfolio, Pandora would be able to then focus on improving the performance of its just-released on-demand streaming service, the report notes.
Pandora did not respond to a request for comment on the Bloomberg story. The report comes on the heels of revelations that the company had raised $150 million in capital investment from private equity firm KKR, and that it was forming an independent committee to find new board members.
The Oakland-based company bought Ticketfly for $450 million in October of 2015 in the hopes of being able to directly market and sell tickets to users, while retaining a percentage of those sales.
Pandora lost $132 million on revenues of $315 million in the quarter ended March 31, which matched increased losses ($115 million) and revenues ($297 million) from the corresponding period in 2016.
