The Stage

Key Brand Entertainment files lawsuit in bid to block Live Nation sale

Published Wednesday 4 November 2009 at 12:41 by Alistair Smith

Key Brand Entertainment - the failed bidder in the recent sale of Live Nation’s UK theatres - has filed a lawsuit in the US, attempting to block the sale of the venues to the Ambassador Theatre Group.

In the lawsuit, KBE, which bought Live Nation’s US theatres in 2008, claims that Live Nation has violated a previous agreement with the company by selling its British venues to a rival.

According to reports in Los Angeles, the lawsuit states: “Since July of 2008, Key Brand has, at great expense and effort, made multiple bona fide offers, supported by committed financing, to purchase Live Nation’s UK theatres, all in the context of, and in compliance with, a bidding rights agreement it negotiated with Live Nation in January 2008.

“After encouraging Key Brand for well over a year to submit increasingly higher offers to buy its UK theatres and, after contractually obligating itself to provide Key Brand with full and most favourable bidding and matching offer rights, Live Nations - in the final hours or possibly after the closure of the bidding - unilaterally disclose information about Key Brand’s bid to another bidder to make sure Key Brand’s final bid would not be the winning bid.”

Key Brand allegedly wants an order placing the ownership of the theatres in trust and clarifying Key Brand’s rights regarding the sale.

It is understood that Key Brand had a contractual right to match any bids from rivals which came within 7.5% of their own bid. ATG’s winning bid is understood to have fallen outside that range.

Live Nation declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Michael Hartman, spokesperson for Key Brand Entertainment Inc, said: “As a matter of corporate policy, we do not comment on rumors, acquisitions or pending litigation.”