Lloyd Webber lands £150m to refurbish theatres and expand

Published Tuesday 3 October 2006 at 14:50 by Alistair Smith

Andrew Lloyd Webber has secured a £150 million war chest with which to continue the expansion of the Really Useful Group, refurbish his West End theatres and pay off a £35 million personal mortgage, claimed to be the largest in Britain.

The deal with Bank of Scotland Corporate will mean that the group will effectively have a £150 million overdraft. All of Lloyd Webber’s personal loans taken out on behalf of RUG will be consolidated with those held by the company itself, including the debt acquired when RUG put together See, Britain’s largest UK-owned ticketing agency.

Lloyd Webber commented: “I am very happy that we decided to invest further in the company last year rather than sell it. We now have total ownership of all our companies in the Really Useful Group and Bank of Scotland has provided us with the ideal financing for the business. It is very much a family concern and because we now own 100% of it privately we can be quicker on our feet while taking a longer-term view.

“It’s a marvellous feeling no longer to be known as the man with the biggest mortgage in Britain, although I was not and I can, if asked, reveal who is!”

The composer, producer and theatre owner will now, through RUG, be able to pay off his debt at a much lower rate than was previously possible - his £35 million mortgage, which was billed as the biggest in Britain, was taken out at short notice last year to finance the acquisition of the remaining 50% ownership of his London theatres from Bridgepoint Capital.

It is understood that the move will help free up money both to build up RUG and to put towards the mooted refurbishment of Lloyd Webber’s London venues.

RUG chief executive Andre Ptaszynski confirmed: “We are looking for further acquisitions in all areas and we pledge to continue to invest in a programme of theatre refurbishment.”