Zepp to operate new $22m Kuala Lumpur venue

Japanese venue group Zepp Hall Network has is to manage a new 2,500-cap. music venue in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur – its first outside Japan.

Zepp Kuala Lumpur – set to open in 2020 – is being built by BBCC Development, the developer of Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Bintang shopping and entertainment district, at a cost of RM100 million (US$22.42m). Zepp Hall Network, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, has been awarded a 20-year lease on the venue.

Zepp operates five venues in Japan, and also promotes tours and festivals under the Zepp Live brand.

BBCC CEO Datuk Richard Ong Kek Seng says the new development – on the site of the former Pudu prison – will also include a multi-screen cinema, shopping centre and food hall.

According to Livescape Group live events director Rahul Kukreja, writing in IQ 68, Malaysia remains an untapped market for touring in south-east Asia, with a local audience hungry for shows by international artists but a weak currency and hostile governments hampering progress.

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