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The Madison Square Garden Company's board has OKed plans to separate its sports and entertainment divisions, the latter of which would include the new Sphere arenas
By IQ on 28 Jun 2018
The board of directors of Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) has approved plans to explore a separation of its sports and entertainment businesses into two distinct public companies.
The proposed spin-off – which would be subject to regulatory approval, and as yet has no timetable for completion – would “enable shareholders to more clearly evaluate each company’s assets and future potential, while allowing both companies to pursue their own distinct business strategy and capital allocation policy”, according to a note sent to investors.
The sports company would include MSG’s basketball teams, New York Knicks and New York Liberty, its ice-hockey team New York Rangers and two esports organisations, Knicks Gaming and Counter Logic Gaming.
The dedicated live entertainment division, meanwhile, would comprise:
The live entertainment company would also include the hotly anticipated new MSG Sphere venues in Las Vegas and London, which are expected to completed in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
MSG CEO James Dolan, who is expected to be CEO and executive chairman of both companies, comments: “We are exploring the opportunity to further create value by separating our businesses into two distinct companies. One company would be a leader in live entertainment with a growing portfolio of assets that will include the state-of-the-art music and entertainment-focused venues called MSG Sphere. The other entity would be a pure-play sports company driven by the strong financial performance of the storied Knicks and Rangers franchises.
“We believe this proposed transaction would provide each company with enhanced strategic flexibility, its own defined business focus and clear investment characteristics.”
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