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Mean Fiddler In Takeover Talks
After its share price rose 13 percent to 53 pence on the back of takeover speculation, the U.K.’s
The company – which owns a portfolio of London venues, the Reading and Leeds festivals and has a 32 percent profit share for producing Glastonbury – has refused to say anything about the identity of the bidder or the timing of the approach.
It would only say it’s in talks with an interested party that “may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company.”
The U.K.’s The Times speculated February 15th that U.S.-based companies Clear Channel Entertainment and Anschutz Entertainment Group are possible candidates, although Irish promoter Denis Desmond bought a 16 percent share of the company in December 2003 (at 46.25 per share) and has since upped that to 24 percent.
Rumours that AEG may be involved will be fueled by the fact it’s funding and partnering former Mean Fiddler director Rob Hallett’s new Megafactor company. Although Hallett’s departure from Mean Fiddler was announced January 28th, it’s believed he’d been planning his exit since last October.
Randy Phillips, president and CEO for AEG Live, has acknowledged that the company has looked at Mean Fiddler as a possible acquisition target in the past. The company is already developing a 20,000-seat arena on the Millennium Dome site and is keen to start promoting pan-European tours.
Mean Fiddler chairman Vince Power is known to be willing to part with his remaining stock in the company that he founded. In October, he agreed to sell to institutional investors and stand down but boardroom wrangles caused the deal to be scrapped and Power returned within a week.
At press time, it wasn’t possible to get a response from AEG, CCE or Desmond.
Mean Fiddler shares, which are listed on the Alternative Investment Market, rose further to 56p during early trading February 15th but finished the day back on 53p.