LN Says Goodbye To Broadway

Live Nation completed the divestiture of its remaining North American theatrical business with the sale of its "Broadway Across America" series and its interest in three owned and five leased venues for $90.4 million to Key Brand Entertainment, the company announced January 24th.

Key Brand gets the touring series, which produces and presents Broadway shows at primarily third-party venues in the U.S. and Canada, as well as the interest in venues located in Minneapolis, Boston, Baltimore and Toronto.

The theatrical investment and acquisition company is owned and controlled by well-known British theatre producer John Gore. It is led by industry vet Thomas McGrath, who is senior managing director of Crossroads Media and chairman of Bug Music, the largest U.S. independent music publisher.

Live Nation will retain its lease for the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., and The Boyd Theatre in Philadelphia. The Warner has been increasingly used as a concert venue while the Boyd is a wholly owned, non-operational facility.

Key Brand acquires a theatrical business that is reported to have generated $208.1 million of revenue, $11.1 million of Adjusted OIBDAN and $8.5 million in operating income for Live Nation for the 2007 calendar year.

Live Nation isn’t getting out of the theatre business completely. It is retaining its U.K. assets, which include 17 theatres, the Hilton Theatre in New York City and the Boston Opera House.

With the sale to Key Brand, Live Nation points out in its announcement that it has sold assets with a total gross sale prove of more than $260 million since 2006. That bit of information may be of interest to investors whose response to recent moves by the company have been lukewarm at best.

While the stock market has been riding a roller coaster lately, Live Nation stock has been on a steady downslide roughly since the company announced it had signed Madonna to a 10-year 360 deal worth an estimated $130 million.

Live Nation shares were trading at a near-record low $9.61 per share when the markets opened January 24th, but had risen more than 30 cents in the first few hours of trading.