Ticketmaster Sets Terms for IPO

Ticketmaster Group set the terms of its initial public offering, which could raise as much as $108.8 million for the Los Angeles-based seller of tickets for sports events and rock concerts. The company, now 80%-owned by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell 7.25 million shares at $13 to $15 each. The IPO represents a 32% stake in Ticketmaster and values the company at as much as $338.4 million. It plans to use proceeds from the first-time stock sale to repay debt and for general corporate purposes. Ticketmaster sold 53.1 million tickets in fiscal 1996 and 30.4 million during the first half of fiscal 1997, according to documents filed Monday with the SEC. After the IPO, there will be 22.3 million shares outstanding. The stock is expected to trade under the Nasdaq symbol TKTM.