Excite@Home Inc is the lead investor in an $85m round of financing for sports and entertainment ticketing agency Tickets.com Inc. Excite@Home has invested $15m in Tickets.com and plans to invest a further $40m, subject to regulatory approval. The investment isn’t going to tap too deeply into Excite@Home’s cash reserves. Through a long-term strategic content relationship, Tickets.com will spend $25m advertising on Excite@Home’s web properties. In a related announcement, Cox Interactive Media (CIMedia), a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc, contributed $15m with a further $15m subject to regulatory approval. Once again, a substantial part of the payment will be in kind. Tickets.com will be the premier provider of event ticketing on the CIMedia city site network, and has bought $13.5m worth of advertising throughout Cox Enterprises’ web properties.
