BDA advises Advantage Partners on sale of Wavedash to Vivid Seats

BDA Partners is pleased to announce that the funds advised by its client, Advantage Partners, have agreed to sell WD Holdings Co Ltd, the holding company of Wavedash Co Ltd (“Wavedash”) to Vivid Seats Inc (NASDAQ: SEAT). The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2023, subject to regulatory requirements and other customary closing conditions.

Wavedash, headquartered in Tokyo, operates Japan’s longest serving and largest secondary ticketing marketplace for live events.

Vivid Seats, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading marketplace that uses its technology platform to connect millions of buyers with thousands of ticket sellers across hundreds of thousands of events each year.

Stan Chia, CEO, Vivid Seats, said: “Wavedash presents a strategically exciting and financially accretive opportunity for Vivid Seats. Wavedash is the market leader in the Japanese secondary ticketing market, with a large and growing customer network supported by robust technology and compliance capabilities. We are excited to grow our TAM by expanding internationally with a market leading business.”

Jeff Acton, Partner, Head of Technology and Co-Head of BDA Tokyo, commented: “We are very pleased to have helped Wavedash find a new partner in Vivid Seats, and match the two leading marketplaces for secondary tickets in Japan and the US. There has been increasing global interest to acquire Japanese companies in the Tech sector and we expect the trend to continue. The deal demonstrates BDA’s capabilities to successfully deliver cross-border M&A solutions to private equity funds in Japan.”

BDA acted as exclusive financial advisor and TMI Associates acted as legal counsel to Advantage Partners. Simmons & Simmons and Nishimura & Asahi acted as legal counsel to Vivid Seats.