Olympia London bought – but not by MSG

A consortium of German and British investors has acquired Olympia London, the historic exhibition centre and concert venue, from Capital & Counties Properties (Capco).

The €330 million purchase price was stumped up by Deutsche Finance International, its subsidiary Deutsche Finance Group and UK private-equity firm Yoo Capital, with additional investment from Bayerische Versorgungskammer and Versicherungskammer Bayern. Deutsche Finance says its goal for the West Kensington complex – whose main Olympia Grand venue has a capacity for concerts of 10,000 – is to maximise the “long-term profit potential for the investment”.

“This acquisition marks the successful start to a number of interesting club deals and joint ventures”

The Madison Square Garden Company, which owns the eponymous New York venue and a string of other venues and sports teams, was previously believed to be the favourite to acquire the Olympia, which it reportedly hoped to turn into a rival to arenas such as AEG’s The O2 and SSE Arena Wembley.

Deutsche Finance’s successful bid is the start of “a number of interesting ‘club deals'” – a German term for joint acquisitions of property by groups of investors – “and joint ventures for investors on which we’re current working”, says the company’s chief investment officer Sven Neubauer.

The Olympia opened in 1886 as the National Agricultural Hall, and has since expanded to include four event venues and a conference centre. Bands who’ve played the venue include The Cure, The Chemical Brothers, Primal Scream, Bloc Party, Pink Floyd and The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

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