Aug 1 2019
Festival
ALL THINGS LIVE ACQUIRES WKND FESTIVAL AND EXPANDS INTO FINLAND
The leading independent live entertainment company in the Nordics – All Things Live – enters the Finnish market after completing its first add-on acquisition. Backed by Waterland Private Equity, All Things Live invests in WKND Festival, which will be included in the partnership and continue its operations as All Things Live Finland.
WKND Festival was first held in 2012 and is today a leading music festival in Finland with over 45,000 attendees. The activities acquired by All Things Live furthermore include promotion of local and international artists in Finland and the Baltics.
“We are very pleased to join All Things Live after having successfully collaborated with our colleagues in the partnership for years, co-promoting great international events and creating value for our audiences and artists. As part of All Things Live, we will maintain our independence and leverage the partnership’s local expertise across the Nordics to attract even more great artists whom usually skip Finland while visiting Scandinavia. Helsinki’s positive attitude toward events and festivals and its sustainable work especially with the area of Suvilahti has attracted attention internationally and we look forward to further developing the WKND Festival and strengthening our promotion business as part of All Things Live,” says Hardi Loog, CEO and founder of WKND Festival.
All Things Live was established in December 2018, and the add-on acquisition of WKND Festival enables the partnership to realize its short-term target of further strengthening its Nordic presence. All Things Live Finland will be based in Helsinki, and Hardi Loog will continue as CEO of the partnership’s Finnish operations including WKND Festival and promotion activities.
“Six leading companies in Nordic live entertainment have successfully joined forces in All Things Live already, and we are pleased to welcome WKND Festival as the seventh member of the family. Hardi Loog and his team have built a strong and thriving festival and business in Finland, which will be a great addition to the All Things Live partnership. The expansion supports our growth plans and enables All Things Live to better address and capture the great opportunities across the Nordic markets to the benefit of our partners, artists, suppliers and audiences,” says Kim Worsøe of All Things Live Group.
Additional information
Kim Worsøe, All Things Live Group
+45 33 12 20 00 / kim@allthingslive.com
Hardi Loog, WKND Festival
+358 45 866 6552 / hardi@allthingslive.com
About All Things Live
All Things Live is the leading independent live entertainment company in the Nordics. The group was established following Waterland Private Equity’s acquisition of 6 Nordic live entertainment companies.
With offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, and Copenhagen, All Things Live covers the full spectrum of live entertainment from local Norwegian acts over Swedish musical productions, a Finnish music festival and Danish stand-up events to stadium concerts with international artists such as The Rolling Stones, Katy Perry and Rammstein.
All Things Live represents around 150 local artists, promotes and produces almost 3,000 events with more than 1 million tickets sold per year, and has entered into a number of partnerships with large corporate clients.