Wuhlheide Deal Falls Through

The administrator sorting out Jack Utsick’s affairs has had a setback with his efforts to generate some cash by selling the financially troubled concert promoter’s share in the Berlin Wuhlheide.

In January Michael I. Goldberg, who has been winding up Utsick’s affairs since 2006, believed he’d have a deal wrapped as soon as the mystery purchaser completed due diligence. But Pollstar has learned the mystery purchaser has backed off because the deal didn’t get the approval of its major shareholder.

Wolfgang Kollen, who is the venue’s managing director and a 15 percent shareholder in the company that owns it, says the building will remain on the market because Goldberg wants to liquidate Utsick’s 75 percent to raise cash for his creditors.

He says a confidentiality agreement prevents him from revealing the identity of the potential purchaser that’s just backed away.
Four years ago Goldberg had talks with major venue operators including SMG Europe, AEG and Live Nation, but none of them resulted in a sale.

In January, when Goldberg put out a creditors’ report saying he was close to selling the 17,000-capacity building, SMG Europe and Live Nation both denied they were the potential purchaser.

Utsick’s The Entertainment Group Fund Inc. has had 75 percent of the management of the Wuhlheide since 1997, when the private company running the city-owned venue spent about euro 10 million on upgrades and then went bust.

Apart from the 75 percent belonging to Utsick and now being administered by Goldberg and the 15 percent owned by Kollen, the remaining 10 percent of Wuhlheide Partnership belongs to Bruce Glatman, who put the partnership together.