Corporate News

DEAG acquires HOW TO ACADEMY and strengthens dynamically growing Spoken Word & Literary Events segment

Berlin, 23 January 2024 – DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft (“DEAG”) is further expanding its strong market position in the area of the Spoken Word & Literary Events. DEAG has acquired 85% of the British company “How To Academy” (“HTA”) via its subsidiary Fane Productions Ltd. How To Academy is one of the leading Spoken Word companies in the UK. The company organises several hundred live events and digital events such as readings, debates, conferences and courses every year. How To Academy also produces podcasts, live streams, films and publishes books. How To Academy has organised many events with international stars from fields such as literature, business, politics and film, including Bill Gates, Al Gore, Paul Krugman, Madeleine Albright, Natalie Portman, Yuval Noah Harari and Ai Wei Wei, in recent years. How To Academy Managing Director John Gordon will remain on board as Managing Director and continue to run the company in the long term together with his team, all of whom will remain with the company. With the acquisition of How To Academy, DEAG is significantly expanding its activities, particularly in the area of digital events. DEAG also expects synergy effects with other Group companies in the development of new formats as well as in the acquisition of new locations and in the ticketing business. A large share of the tickets for How To Academy events will be sold exclusively via DEAG’s ticketing platforms in the future.

DEAG is growing very dynamically in the Spoken Word & Literary Events segment, which includes theatre performances, author readings and poetry slams, and now occupies a leading position throughout Europe. Fane, a leading producer and organiser of Spoken Word and Literary Events in the UK, Australia and North America, as one of the growth drivers produces live streams, podcasts and sells books in over 90 countries worldwide. Fane also organises corporate events and acts as a speakers bureau.  In 2023, DEAG counted a total of around 600,000 visitors in the Spoken Word & Literary Events segment at events organised by its subsidiaries Fane and lit.COLOGNE GmbH, organiser of the international literature festival that goes by the same name, after 100,000 visitors in 2021.

Detlef Kornett, Co-CEO of DEAG: “The Spoken Word & Literary Events segment has been growing dynamically for years. We are delighted to be able to further expand our strong position by acquiring How To Academy. The addition of How To Academy’s complementary product range to our portfolio will result in significant synergy effects and cross-selling potential. How To Academy has a broad-based portfolio that perfectly complements our offering, especially for digital events. We see considerable growth opportunities in the Spoken Word & Literary Events segment and will unlock further added value through the acquisition of How To Academy. With Fane, lit.COLOGNE and How To Academy, we are in an excellent position to continue growth internationally and in Germany.”

ABOUT DEAG

DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft (DEAG), a leading entertainment service company and live entertainment provider, produces and promotes live events of all genres and sizes in Europe. With its group companies, DEAG has been present at 22 locations in its core markets of Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, Ireland, Denmark and Spain. As a live entertainment service provider with an integrated business model, DEAG has extensive expertise in the conception, organisation, promotion and production of events.

Founded in Berlin in 1978, DEAG's core business areas today include Rock/Pop, Classics & Jazz, Family Entertainment, Spoken Word & Literary Events, Arts+Exhibitions, Ticketing and Entertainment Services. Live Entertainment for all generations including Arts+Exhibitions are important building blocks for the further development of DEAG's own content.

For around 6,000 events, over 10 million tickets are sold annually for own and third-party content - a continuously growing share of these is sold via the group's own e-commerce platforms myticket.de, myticket.at, myticket.co.uk, gigantic.com and tickets.ie.

DEAG is thus excellently positioned for further growth.

ABOUT FANE

The Fane Group specialises in producing and curating in-conversation events and solo tours with the most exciting names in culture and entertainment.

Launched in 2017, Fane has grown exponentially to become the global operation it is today, taking its renowned programming to consumers and corporates alike and becoming a partner of choice for talent, publishers and agents in the UK and internationally. The company has offices in London and Sydney, and operates in Europe, the USA, Canada and New Zealand.

Fane prides itself on deliverying a line-up that offers something for everyone and can be accessed by anyone, anywhere. Highlights from its 2023 events programme have included over 30 dates at venues across the UK for Grayson Perry, Emma Dabiri live from Brixton House, evenings with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Hanks, and a once in a lifetime opportunity to spend an evening with Dame Judi Dench. Highlights from its online programme included Margaret Atwood in conversation with Neil Gaiman to celebrate Salman Rushdie’s Victory City, Andi Oliver, Alice Oseman, Mikaela Loach and Sir Michael Caine.

Investor & Public Relations

Axel Mühlhaus, edicto GmbH

Eschersheimer Landstraße 42

60322 Frankfurt am Main

Germany

Phone: 0049 69 905505-52

Email: deag@edicto.de