Vista Equity seeks to sell online secondary ticket seller Vivid Seats for $1.5 bn

The owner of Vivid Seats is looking to sell the US online secondary ticket marketplace for as much as $1.5 billion, TechCrunch today reported, citing multiple sources.

Vivid Seats owner private equity firm Vista Equity Partners is working with Morgan Stanley to sell the company, which could help reap in a tidy profit a year after acquiring the business for about $850 million, the report said.

Founded in 2001 by Eric Vassilatos and Jerry Bednyak, Vivid Seats has become the third-largest secondary ticket seller in the US.

The Illinois-based company sells tickets at concerts, theaters and sports events, and although it does not have the same name recognition as Ticketmaster or StubHub, it is quite a force to reckon with.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Vista was eying a sale of Vivid Seats ''after receiving inbound interest,'' but did not give further detail.