Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Inc, the newly formed subsidiary of USA Networks Inc, is set for a $92m initial public offering after filing registration documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday. The IPO announcement comes directly on the heels of the merger between online ticketing service, Ticketmaster Multimedia Holdings, and on-line local city guide, CitySearch Inc, a deal originally announced in August (CI No 3,474). The newly merged entity, Ticketmaster Online- CitySearch, is 62.5% owned by USA Networks Inc and has an estimated value of around $700m, but no information was given in the filing as to how many shares will be offered and at what price. The company did say, however, that $50m of the proceeds would be used to repay outstanding convertible debt. CitySearch had originally planned to go public as an independent entity earlier this year, but the IPO was postponed. USA Networks then paid $260m for the company in a bid to generate synergistic sales from links between CitySearch’s urban entertainment guides and Ticketmaster’s offering of on-line show bookings. According to the IPO filing, since the commencement of online ticket sales in November 1996, Ticketmaster Online has increased related sales from approximately $100,000 to more than $10m in July 1998. The company declined to add further comment on the IPO filing saying it was in a quiet period leading up to the flotation.
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