Live Nation keeps Pukkelpop ownership but hands over running for 10 years
Live Nation will stay the formal owner of Pukkelpop but will not run the Belgian festival for at least 10 years.
The Belgian Competition Authority closed its investigation into the takeover on 11 September 2026 after accepting binding commitments, enforceable promises about how the festival will be managed. Music Business Worldwide reported the terms on 16 September.
Under those terms, the operation of Pukkelpop and every asset attached to it passes to an organisation controlled by festival founder and chief executive Chokri Mahassine. He will hold the exclusive right to run the festival for at least the next three years. Any operator who follows him must remain independent of Live Nation.
The name stays. The control goes. The independent operator will have the final say on artistic, commercial and other decisions. That includes artists and booking agents, programming, ticket pricing, suppliers, staff, venue, dates, duration, capacity, staging and management.
Regulators focused on the deal because Live Nation already operates two other large Belgian festivals, Rock Werchter and Graspop Metal Meeting. The Authority said that existing footprint raised questions about quality and pricing if one group held more sway over the market. A monitoring trustee, an independent checker appointed to watch compliance, will monitor whether the commitments are kept.
The takeover had fallen below the financial thresholds that would have triggered an automatic merger filing in Belgium at the time. The Authority therefore examined it under abuse-of-dominance rules, the laws that prevent a powerful company from using its position to harm competition. In this case that meant Article IV.2 of Belgium's Code of Economic Law and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
The investigation opened on 12 November 2025 on the instruction of Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister David Clarinval. Damien Gérard is Prosecutor General at the Authority. The commitments will run for 10 years, and can be extended by a further five years if warranted in light of market circumstances.
For fans, this means the team choosing the line-up and setting the ticket price will not answer to Live Nation. Ownership sits in one place. Decisions sit in another.
