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O2 owners to sell arena for 'bargain' £35million
Mark Blunden09.02.09
The O2 arena is up for sale for around £35 million, it emerged today.
The Meridian Delta consortium secured a 999-year lease on the site in 2001 and now hopes to attract a new investor, such as a state-owned investment fund, to take over the venue, according to reports.
Initial offers on the 20,000-seat former Millennium Dome are expected this week with MDD hopeful the sale will be completed by the end of next month. One source close to the sale called it “the bargain of the century”.
Since it converted to a music and sports arena the O2 has become the world's most popular entertainment venue, attracting big names including Kylie Minogue. In 2012 it will host the Olympics gymnastics and basketball finals.
Last year almost two million tickets were sold for events at the O2, beating New York's Madison Square Garden into second place by more than 500,000 tickets. The sale document suggests that more than £600 million has been spent on the O2 by consortium partner AEG since its reopening.
The ultimate freehold to the Greenwich site is owned by the Government through the Home and Communities Agency, which was formerly known as English Partnerships, and is not for sale.
Reader views (7)
oh please - its the land thats for sale not the venue itself....
its the worlds most popular entertainment venue, 1.8 million tickets in the last year outselling mad square gardens by 600 thousand...and thats a farce? A white elephant and should be torn down? The o2 and the arena has redefined entertainment experience in the uk. Read the facts, not just the headlines!
- Rob Edwards, londin
It's not the O2 arena; it's the MILLENIUM DOME paid for
in part by the taxpayer - so give us our money back!
- Lb, Bromley
Maybe I'm not getting the maths but if they've spent £600 million, why would they want to lose £565 million by selling it for £35m?
Or is it just their share that they are selling?
Bizarrre!
- Brian Clapham, London
Andrew, London - have you actually been there?
The O2 is a fantastic place - shows, bars, cinemas, restaurants and things for families and couples to do all year. Who owns it is irrelevant - this only made the news because of all the fuss over 9 years ago. If the Trocadero was being sold, no one would have batted an eyelid.
By the way - the £600million was also to pay for environmental clean up of the area and the jubilee line extension through canning town and up to Stratford - something that most people living in East London would see as a massive benefit. The Dome actually cost less than any other equivalent sized building.
- Liberal And Proud, London, UK
I seem to remember that they bought it for £1. So, profit made will be £34,999,999, less the £600 million spent on it, still a vast profit in a very short time. What's this about a state-owned investment fund - the state doesn't have any money, now that it has given it all to the banks - the UK is about to have to go to the IMF for a bail-out.
- Rachel Mawhood, London, UK
Correct me if I'm wrong on this point but didn't these guys buy the Millennium Dome for just £1.00?
- Fraser, Telford Park
What a farce! Once again the Dome becomes a white elephant. Tear it down.
- Andrew, London
