Xing snaps up event startup Amiando

German business social networking site Xing has acquired Amiando, an online event management and ticketing services company, for around 10.3 million euros, as the “German LinkedIn” attempts to engage its more than 10 million members more actively.

Xing is the leading business social networking site in Germany and offers integrated business event services ranging from organization to marketing, billing, and execution.

Amiando has been billed as the “Eventbrite of Europe,” in that it offers online event management and ticketing services under a similar business model, where only a portion of its offerings are paid services but most are free for event planners.

Amiando, which is available in German, French, English and Spanish, allows users to manage invitations, promote events online, handle the event registration process, host integrated billing services, and manage event entry.

All of their tools are available online, are available immediately, and do not require any form of software installation. The company says it supported around 100,000 events in 2009 and will keep its current staff of 35.

The acquisition is part of a larger push by business social networks to tempt their users into using the site for more than just creating an account and looking for jobs. Two years ago Xing acquired socialmedian, a service created by former Jobster chief executive Jason Goldberg to share and discuss news stories, as a way to help busy professionals find relevant news.

The acquisition of Amiando is one more step in that “full-service, one-stop” experience, as sites like Xing and LinkedIn strive to increase eyeballs, the time spent on site, as well as incentivize people to come back.

“Acquiring Amiando gives Xing an opportunity to meet its members’ growing need for an integrated, comprehensive event registration and ticketing service. In 2009 alone, our members organized and marketed more than 150,000 events via the XING platform,” said Xing CEO Stefan Gross-Selbeck. “From now on, we can offer them all of the services they need including efficient registration, ticketing and billing. This in turn allows us to tap into a highly lucrative and market currently experiencing rapid growth.”

Xing is paying 5.1 million euros initially, and an additional payment of up to 5.25 million euros will be made on March 31, 2013. The deal has several specific provisions, including that Amiando meet preset financial performance targets and that the current management team will stay at the company.

Felix Haas will continue in his position as CEO at Amiando.