Copenhagen’s Royal Arena up for sale
Denmark’s Royal Arena is being put up for sale by its current owners, the Municipality of Copenhagen and the private architectural association Realdania.
The €200 million arena opened in 2017 in the Ørestad South area of Copenhagen after substantial investment from both owners.
Since opening, the 17,000-capacity has been operated by Live Nation Entertainment subsidiary Danish Venue Enterprise, which has brought rafts of international artists to its stage.
Acts such as Metallica, Olivia Rodrigo and Rod Stewart have performed at the Royal Arena, while Billie Eilish, Jonas Brothers and Childish Gambino will grace its stage before the end of the year.
“Today, Royal Arena attracts world-class cultural events, sports, and music to Copenhagen with great success,” stated Copenhagen’s Mayor Lars Weiss in a press release.
“This should continue into the future, but since the arena’s success no longer depends on our ownership, we’ve decided to sell our shares. The proceeds can then benefit other important projects.”
“Since the arena’s success no longer depends on our ownership, we’ve decided to sell our shares”
Danish Venue Enterprise holds a lease for the venue until December 2046, and this agreement will remain intact following the sale.
In IQ‘s 2024 Global Arena Guide, Dan Hammer, CEO/MD at Royal Arena/Danish Venue Enterprise, said the next 12–18 months are “looking really sold for the arena, with an incredibly diverse range of artists on the books”.
“The health of the live entertainment market in Denmark is good,” he added. “Obviously, Copenhagen is an attractive city for both international artists and fans, and thankfully, we have some competent promoters doing everything in their power to present some of the world’s greatest artists in Denmark.”
Alongside high-profile concerts, the Royal Arena has also hosted major sporting competitions such as the European Swimming Championships in 2017, the Ice Hockey World Championships in 2018, and the Men’s Handball World Championships in 2019.
In other venue news, The Roig Arena, a new multi-purpose venue scheduled to open in Valencia in 2025, has joined the European Arenas Association (EAA).
The 18,600-capacity venue will be the home of Valencia Basket Club as well as hosting concerts and other entertainment. It is being funded by and named after Spanish entrepreneur Juan Roig, the billionaire owner of the Spanish Mercadona supermarket chain. Costing €280m, it will be the largest capacity arena in the country.
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Private equity firms eye Dice stake – report
Ticketing and event discovery platform Dice is reportedly in discussions to sell a “significant stake” that would value the company at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Bloomberg reports that Dice initiated a more formal process after being approached by a prospective buyer, with one of its biggest investors, Softbank, keen to sell its stake.
Citing “conversations with a few people directly involved”, Bloomberg notes that three of the interested parties are private equity firms.
Launched in the UK in 2014, Dice currently operates in the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy and Spain. It declared its intention to step up its global expansion plans last summer after raising a $65 million funding round led by music-focused investment company MUSIC.
Dice declined to comment on the report when approached by IQ.
Dice’s most recent accounts, filed in the UK with Companies House, show that its net revenue increased 360% from $6m in the pandemic-hit 2021 to $28m in 2022, powered by “continued expansion in existing territories alongside expansion into new markets”.
The group made a $50m loss for the financial year “largely driven by the successful move into North America and the continued R&D investment into building the leading global discovery platform”. Net assets were $40m.
Elsewhere in the sector, CTS Eventim recently completed the acquisition of Vivendi’s festival and international ticketing businesses in a €300m deal.
Global creative engineering group for live experiences Tait has just announced equity investment from Goldman Sachs
The links with private equity companies mark a continuation of the increasingly close ties between the international touring industry and PE.
American global investment firm KKR acquired festival giant Superstruct Entertainment from Providence in a €1.3 billion deal last month, while Tait, the global creative engineering group for live experiences, has just announced equity investment from Goldman Sachs Alternatives’ private equity business.
Goldman Sachs will acquire a majority stake in the company from affiliates of Providence Equity Partners. Pennsylvania-headquartered Tait, which opened a UK base in London this year, designs, constructs, manufactures and operates stages and installations for clients including Taylor Swift, Cirque Du Soleil, Royal Opera House, NASA, National Geographic, Beyoncé and The Olympics.
“Since its inception, Tait has partnered with clients across the globe to bring visionary concepts to reality and create extraordinary live experiences,” says Tait CEO Adam Davis. “As we look to our future – where the digital and physical worlds seamlessly merge into bespoke, individually tailored events, we are thrilled to partner with Goldman Sachs. This collaboration will unlock new opportunities and reinforce Tait’s position as an industry leader in delivering culture-defining experiences.
“Goldman Sachs’ network and expertise will enable us to grow our global footprint and offerings, empowering the company to better serve clients, drive innovation, and pioneer new technology.”
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
“We believe that Tait is exceptionally well-positioned to benefit from secular tailwinds as the entertainment space continues to grow in scale and complexity, and see tremendous value creation opportunities for Tait as the company continues to broaden its technology offering and market coverage,” adds Simon Kubbies, MD at Goldman Sachs Alternatives.
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Venue to be sold on eBay
If you look hard enough you can find most things for sale on eBay, but this one’s a real novelty: Austin, Texas, venue The Parish is being sold off on the auction site.
The 435-capacity venue is in the heart of the city’s entertainment district, and will be listed from 1-10 December. But it’s not the building itself up for grabs, but the business, its current bookings, bar, sound equipment, 12-year lease and the chance to renew the alcohol licence.
Owner ATX Brands’ boss Doug Guller told Venues Today he’s putting the business on eBay because he wants to bypass the traditional music industry networks; and is hoping to bring in new blood to the self-proclaimed “live music capital of the world” (ahem).
“Hopefully it’ll be sold to someone in the industry that can take it to the next level.”
“I wanted to cast a wide net, and when things like properties come up for sale, the broker usually just sends the info out to their email list and that’s it,” he said. “Properties trade very well with brokers, but when it comes to selling an entire business, there’s not really a set formula or process for how to get it done.”
“Hopefully it’s someone in the industry that can afford a venue like The Parish and can take it to the next level.”
Bidding starts at $1, although Guller admits he’s set an undisclosed reserve price that must be reached for the deal to go through. He says he’s looking for someone
ATX Brands decided earlier this year to sell its live music venues to concentrate on growing his “breastaurant” brands Bikini’s and Happy Chicks. In July it sold outdoor music venue Scoot Inn to Austin-based promoter C3 Presents.
Although it’s rarely a stop for national tours, artists to have played small-scale appearances at The Parish include Slash, Perry Farrell, Leon Bridges and Pete Townsend.
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2-for-1 Wild Life, V tickets in TM flash sale
Ticketmaster UK is planning a Friday on-sale with a difference tomorrow morning, offering buy-one-get-one-free tickets on several festivals and tours as part of its latest 24-hour flash sale.
From 9am on 12 May, Ticketmaster.co.uk will be home to two-for-one tickets on “incredible summer festivals including the likes of Virgin V Festival, Wild Life and more”, says TM, plus offers on tours from UB40, Clean Bandit, Idina Menzel and Craig David, to name but a few”.
The sale will also include “deeply discounted offers” on other festivals and shows.
The sale follows the recent ‘Kickoff to Summer’ ticket promotion in the US by parent company Live Nation, which shifted more than one million tickets priced at US$20 between 2 and 9 May. Eligible tours included Kings of Leon, Future, Depeche Mode, Muse and Thirty Seconds to Mars, John Mayer, Lionel Richie and Mariah Carey, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, Styx and Nickelback.
Kickoff to Summer was preceded by National Concert Day on 1 May, with The Roots, Foreigner, Daughtry, Prince Royce, Nickelback and Jason Aldean launching the promotion with a show at Irving Plaza in New York.
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Star Boot Sale aims to raise funds for refugees
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is teaming up with stars from music, art, film and sport to raise money for the Syrian refugee crisis.
The brainchild of Blur drummer Dave Rowntree, the Star Boot Sale will see some of the UK’s most well-known faces donating personal items for charity, including the Stone Roses, Hot Chip, Blur, comedian David Walliams, ex-Spice Girl Mel C and artist Dom Pattinson – a number of whom have agreed to make surprise appearances at the Old Truman Brewery in London on the day of the event, 22 May.
More than half of the population of Syria has fled their homes because of the conflict. Jordan is hosting 635,000 refugees, meaning one in every 10 people there has been displaced. Almost all of them are living outside of formal camps and have little access to even basic services.
Speaking of a recent visit to Jordan, Rowntree says: “Nothing can be more difficult than having to uproot your life and your family and leave everything behind. But that’s what this war has done to hundreds of thousands of Syrian people whose lives are now on hold.
“The refugee crisis is in the news every day, but many of us feel powerless to help. By taking part in the Star Boot Sale you can make a real difference to the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people”
“The refugee crisis is in the news every day, but many of us feel powerless to help. By taking part in the Star Boot Sale you can make a real difference to the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. It will be a fun day out with shopping, entertainment and food stands – but most importantly, all funds raised will support the IRC’s vital work in the region.”
The Star Boot Sale will also include an online auction of items donated by celebrities including Coldplay, Stephen Fry, Ant & Dec and actor Paddy Considine, ranging from signed records to unique artwork by some of the UK’s leading artists. These will be available to purchase through boot sale app Shpock.
Armin Strbac, co-founder of Shpock, says: “Shpock is excited to be a part of the Star Boot Sale 2016, and supporting the IRC to raise vital funds for thousands of people who have been forced from their homes. The money will go towards vital mobile health clinics ensuring that refugees can have access to doctors, nurses and midwives and receive the care they deserve.”
Tickets for the event, costing £13.50 plus fees, are sale now. For more information and to receive updates about celebrities’ items added to the online auction visit www.starbootsale.com or follow @starbootsale and @IRCUK.
Live Nation launches $20 summer ticket sale
To mark the beginning of the summer concert season, Live Nation has announced that tickets to nearly a thousand of its shows this summer will be on sale for US$20.
The Kickoff to Summer Sale runs from 13 to 20 May, with a full list expected to be announced later today as part of Live Nation’s ‘National Concert Day’ celebrations.
National Concert Day 2016 will take place at the Live Nation-owned Irving Plaza in New York and feature performances by Wiz Khalifa, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (pictured), Cheap Trick and country singer-songwriter Dierks Bentley and “special appearances” by Live Nation summer touring artists Nick Jonas, Awolnation, Goo Goo Dolls, Corey Taylor and Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan of Slipknot, Simon Kirke of Bad Company, Rome from Sublime with Rome, Jared Watson and Dustin Bushnell of Dirty Heads, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness and Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional.
The concert will be streamed in full via Yahoo.
Other artists touring with Live Nation this summer include Black Sabbath, Duran Duran, Coldplay, Bryan Adams, Rihanna, Guns N’ Roses, The 1975, Def Leppard and Florence + the Machine.