Mainland China’s Maoyan Entertainment will take over local company Cityline as the ticketing systems provider for government-managed performance venues from the end of next year.

Maoyan, mainland China’s biggest ticketing operator, won the Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s tender to run its ticketing platform URBTIX for HK$91.7 million (US$11.8 million), according to an official announcement.

The bid ended Cityline’s 14 years of service, and was 25% cheaper than the company’s last contract of HK$123 million seven years ago.

Other companies that had submitted a bid include New World’s HK Ticketing and local startup iMusic, according to a source.

A spokesperson for Cityline told Apple Daily that it was regrettable that its service for the department was coming to an end. The gap between its bid and Maoyan’s was “fairly big” but it would be difficult for them to cover staff and other costs in Hong Kong at a similar price, the spokesperson said.

The bids were due in February and it was unlikely that the companies had taken the full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak into account, the source said.

Maoyan’s revenue fell 89.8% to 203 million yuan (US$31 million) in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year, according to the company’s interim report. It recorded a loss of 430 million yuan.

Maoyan’s mainland Chinese background has sparked some security concerns. Data scientist Wong Ho-wa said he was not optimistic about the way Maoyan would handle private information, particularly given its working relationship with other mainland Chinese companies such as WeChat and QQ.

There was also a risk that the United States might force smartphone operators to remove Maoyan from their app stores because of its background, Wong said, creating extra difficulties for Hongkongers to buy tickets.

Francis Fong, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, said the government should set out rules on the handling of personal information and the company should be fined or sued in the event of mismanagement.

People concerned about the system’s security could use a separate phone number or email address for transactions, he said.

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