LDC – the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group – is buying the NEC Group, the owner of four event and music venues in Birmingham, in a deal valued at £307 mln (€402 mln).
LDC – the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group – is buying the NEC Group, the owner of four event and music venues in Birmingham, in a deal valued at £307 mln (€402 mln).
Birmingham City Council announced on 16 January that it had reached a binding agreement with LDC after an extensive sales process.
NEC Group owns and operates the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), the International Convention Centre (ICC), the LG Arena and the Barclaycard Arena (BA) in Birmingham. Some four million people attend events at the venues annually, generating £2 bn in revenues for the Birmingham region.
Birmingham City Council is retaining the freehold on the four properties.
LDC is providing the equity funding for the acquisition, with the provision of debt being led by Macquarie Bank. The transaction values the NEC Group at around £307 mln, £15 mln of which will be in the form of a loan note, including the value of the leases of the Hilton Metropole and Crowne Plaza hotels on the NEC site which are being retained by the city council.
