UK property group Capital & Counties (Capco) has sold its London exhibitions business Venues, which includes event space Olympia London, to a consortium of German investors, including German pension investor BVK, for £296 mln (€347 mln).
The portfolio comprises Olympia London, plus related property assets.
The acquiring parties include Bayerische Versorgungskammer (Germany’s largest manager of public pension schemes investing through a fund managed by Universal-Investment) as the single largest shareholder, the Versicherungskammer Bayern Group (Germany's largest public insurer) and DFI European Value Add Fund.
'We are pleased to announce the sale of Olympia London to the consortium,' commented Ian Hawksworth, chief executive of Capco, commented. 'Following the successful transition of shows from the former Earls Court exhibition centres and our strategic investment in recent years, Olympia London is now established as the preferred central London venue for premium shows.'
He added: 'Now that the period of transition is complete, it is the right time for Capco to exit its ownership of the venue. It has been our privilege to be part of the rich history of this historic venue, and we wish the business and management team great success under its new ownership.'
Capco acquired full control of the Earls Court & Olympia London venues and operating business in 2009. Earls Court and Olympia London were run as one business until the permanent closure of Earls Court at the end of 2014. In the run-up to the closure of Earls Court, Capco successfully transitioned over 80% of its shows to Olympia London, investing £30 mln in Olympia.
The company said that the disposal provided an opportunity for Capco to realise significant cash proceeds. After repayment of approximately £50 mln of debt and transaction costs, Capco's net proceeds are around £229 mln (€268 mln).
Legal & General has completed a bi-lateral loan to fund the consortium's purchase.
'The completion of this transaction delivers value for our shareholders and will position Capco to concentrate effort and resources on our two exceptional central London estates at Covent Garden and Earls Court, as well as further enhance our financial flexibility to take advantage of opportunities as they arise,' concluded Hawksworth.
