Bristol Hippodrome put up for sale

Bristol's famous Hippodrome theatre has been put up for sale by its owners.

The historic 2,000-seat landmark has been a jewel in the city's entertainment crown for almost a century.

And in recent years the venue has played host to a raft of West End shows, including Mamma Mia!, Starlight Express and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

But Live Nation, the company that owns the theatre, has put its entire stock of British venues on the market with a price tag of £75 million.

Hippodrome general manager Gary Roden said: "After a very successful period last year, 2009 is also seeing the theatre thriving and with major productions already lined up for 2010, the outlook for both the theatre and our customers is extremely exciting.

"With new owners or not, customers can rest assured that the Bristol Hippodrome will continue to provide the very best in live entertainment in the South West."

The Bristol Hippodrome, which employs 28 permanent staff and has a pool of 70 casual workers, has changed hands several times.

Owners in the past 25 years have included Stoll Moss, Apollo Leisure, SFX, ClearChannel Entertainment and, since 2004, Live Nation.

Mr Roden said: "In 2008, Live Nation sold its American theatres to Key Brand. As part of that deal Key Brand had the right to look at all Live Nation's UK theatre venues with a view to potentially purchasing them.

"In compiling an inventory of the UK assets it was decided to see if there was any interest from other potential theatre operators, or investors. This is a process we are currently undergoing and that may continue for a few more months."

Investment bank Goldman Sachs, which oversaw the US sale, is also handling the UK bidding.

The theatre, which is also home to the annual Scouts' Gang Show, has a long history, entertaining the theatre-goers of Bristol since 1912.

Thousands of artists have performed on the Hippodrome stage, including legends such as George Formby, Max Miller, Tony Hancock, Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, and Laurel and Hardy.

Live Nation is currently accepting bids for all 17 theatres, including venues in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Edinburgh. But it has not ruled out selling them off separately, if an acceptable price cannot be found for them all.

Paul Latham, Live Nation's chief operating officer for live music, said: "We might not sell them. It's not a foregone conclusion that they will be sold. It will only be if somebody makes an offer we can't refuse that it will be accepted."

The potential sale, which has been long anticipated within the industry, forms part of an ongoing strategy by the company, which intends to focus on its arena-scale live music operation, selling off its theatres to help fund expansion.

But the 17 theatres represent a profitable operation and there has been speculation in the industry press that the process is merely a "fishing exercise", and is unlikely to result in a sale.

However, there is thought to be interest from more than 20 parties, from international theatre operators to private equity firms.

The number of potential buyers is expected to be whittled down within the next week or so. Theatre operators rumoured to be in the running include the major European theatre owner Stage Entertainment, Key Brand Entertainment, and the Ambassador Theatre Group – the UK's second largest theatre operator.

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