Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the US owner of the O2 in Greenwich, as well as sports teams LA Lakers, LA Galaxy and Los Angeles Kings, has been put up for sale. The estimated price tag is US$7bn (£4.3bn).
AEG has appointed Blackstone Advisory Partners to arrange the sale. AEG owns over 100 venues, including convention centres and arenas, around the world.
AEG also owns the AEG Live brand, the world’s second-largest concert promoter.
A bid to buy 49 per cent of AEG by IAC’s Ticketmaster and Cablevision Systems Corp for $400m failed in 2008, with Ticketmaster merging with Live Nation.
The Anschutz President Cannon Harvey was quoted in the financial press as saying: “This is an appropriate time to transition AEG to a new owner. The company has the highest confidence in AEG’s potential and will only undertake a transaction that reflects this.”
The local Denver Post in entrepreneur Phil Anschutz’s hometown said of the news of the sale: “The surprise move raised questions about timing and whether a single entity could absorb the entire operation. Anschutz apparently believes that the timing for a sale is ideal. Many of the company’s assets are at their peak value.”
“The sale involves the portfolio in its entirety,” underlined Lyndsey Estin, a spokeswoman for AEG.
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