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Live Nation takes slice of V Festival via its Gaiety joint venture

By | Published on Thursday 12 December 2013

V Festival

Live Nation has further expanded its interest in the UK festival sector by taking a stake in the V Festival franchise, according to Music Week.

At the core of the deal is a move by Irish entertainment mogul Denis Desmond, who has transferred his stake in V over to his joint venture with the global live music firm, Live Nation Gaiety. The V Festival’s other shareholders, SJM’s Simon Moran and Metropolis’s Bob Angus, have also sold part of their stakes in the event to LNG.

Back in October, according to the Irish Independent, Live Nation registered a ‘charge’ over Desmond’s stake in the two parties’ joint venture as part of a loan agreement which enabled the Irish business man to restructure his finances and pay off a reported 60 million euro debt with the Bank Of Scotland. It’s not known if the V Festival transaction is linked to that arrangement.

Businesses in which the Live Nation Gaiety joint venture has a substantial stake include the Academy Music Group, T In The Park owner DF Concerts, Reading/Leeds/Latitude operator Festival Republic, and Ireland’s Electric Picnic Festival. Live Nation’s other festivals in the UK include Download, Wireless and Creamfields, and a recently announced new event in Leicester which will take the form of a Kasabian home-coming gig in 2014.



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