Live Nation Takes Majority Stake in Argentina's Movistar Arena Buenos Aires

Live Nation acquires majority stake in Argentina’s Movistar Arena Buenos Aires

June 16, 2026 By Mandy Dalugdug

Live Nation Entertainment has acquired a majority stake in Argentina’s Movistar Arena Buenos Aires .

The deal gives the company its second Movistar Arena in South America ,  following  Live Nation’s   December 2025 acquisition of a majority stake  in the  15,000 -capacity  venue  in Santiago,  Chile .

The deal also marks Live Nation’s second in Argentina this month, after it announced plans to acquire a majority stake in promoter Dale Play Live .

Live Nation has been active in Argentina since 2018 , when it acquired promoter DF Entertainment , the local partner for Lollapalooza Argentina .

The Buenos Aires arena opened in 2019 and hosts more than 250 events a year.

It draws more than 2.5 million fans annually, according to Live Nation .

> “We are excited to support the Movistar Arena team in providing a first-class environment for artists and fans.” Michael Rapino , Live Nation Entertainment

“Movistar Arena Buenos Aires is one of the premier venues in Latin America,” said Michael Rapino , President and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment .

“We are excited to support the Movistar Arena team in providing a first-class environment for artists and fans.”

> “ Live Nation ‘s investment reflects the strength of what the team has built over the past several years, and we will continue to enhance the experience for artists, fans, partners, and promoters.” Gabriel Dantur , Movistar Arena Buenos Aires

Gabriel Dantur , CEO of Movistar Arena Buenos Aires , added: “Since opening our doors, Movistar Arena Buenos Aires has become a benchmark for live entertainment in Argentina and across Latin America.

“ Live Nation ‘s investment reflects the strength of what the team has built over the past several years, and we will continue to enhance the experience for artists, fans, partners, and promoters.”

The Buenos Aires arena is the busier of the two Movistar Arenas , with the Santiago venue hosting more than 170 shows and over 1 million fans a year.

Live Nation said the arena will remain an open building available to all qualified promoters, and that the current management team will continue to run it.

The companies did not disclose the value of the Buenos Aires transaction either, which was announced on Monday (June 15) .

La Nación , the former majority owner of the venue, will remain a shareholder.

Both acquisitions sit within a venue strategy that Live Nation has funded at scale.

An analyst on the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call in May noted that capital expenditure had climbed to around $1 billion in 2025 , up from $400 million two years earlier.

“If we stopped investing this $1 billion and stopped buying venues, we are going to be able to throw off a lot of cash,” President and CFO Joe Berchtold said on the call.

To help fund the expansion, Live Nation in April raised about €610 million of debt secured against a portfolio of its venues.

On the same call, Rapino pointed to the region at the center of this deal.

“ Latin America is on fire, small to big to festivals,” Rapino said.

The Buenos Aires acquisition extends a run of Latin American deals by the company.

In January, the company agreed to a 10-year deal reportedly worth $110 million for exclusive concert and naming rights at Buenos Aires’ Más Monumental Stadium , the home of football club River Plate .

In Mexico , it raised its stake in promoter OCESA to 75% last summer in a $646 million transaction, having first taken a 51% holding in December 2021 for $416 million .

Across the two transactions (the 51% in 2021 and 24% in 2025), that’s comfortably more than  a billion dollars  changing hands.

Live Nation also took majority stakes in Bizarro Peru in January and Colombia ‘s Páramo Presenta in 2023, and acquired Dominican Republic promoter SD Concerts in May 2025.

When it bought Dale Play , Rapino described the Argentine capital as a priority market.

“ Buenos Aires is the second largest music market in South America and a priority for Live Nation ,” he said at the time.

The city pairs a flow of international tours with a local scene led by Argentine acts such as Duki , Nicki Nicole and producer Bizarrap .

Outside Latin America, Live Nation has acquired Europe’s largest indoor venue, the Paris La Défense Arena , and Italy’s ForumNet Group , the operator of Milan’s Unipol Forum .

Berchtold has said the company is targeting 48 new venues within five years and a $600 million adjusted operating income run rate by 2032

Live Nation reported Q1 2026 revenue of $3.8 billion , up 12% YoY , and said its international business was growing faster than its US operations. Music Business Worldwide

News Argentina United States Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment Movistar Arena

Related Posts

The Weeknd’s After Hours Til Dawn tour has grossed more than $440M in 2026 alone – on over 3M tickets sold

_Originally reported by [Music Business Worldwide](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/live-nation-acquires-majority-stake-in-argentinas-movistar-arena-buenos-aires/)._