Taste of Dublin acquired by IMG

The Taste of Dublin summer food festival has been acquired by global sport, entertainment and media company IMG as part of a wider transaction valued at just under £5 million.

The Irish business is a subsidiary of London-based Taste Festivals Ltd, which was sold yesterday to IMG Arts Entertainment by Brand Events Ltd.

City events

Taste Festivals runs annual events in 17 cities across the world, including Dublin, showcasing leading restaurants and chefs, and major food and drinks brands.

Taste of Dublin, which is hosted in the Iveagh Gardens, was first held in 2006.

The organisers recently secured Electrolux as title sponsor for another three years out to 2015. This year’s event will be held from June 13th to 16th.

New York-based IMG has paid an initial £4.97 million in cash with a deferred consideration of up to £150,000 payable over the next two years and a further amount to be paid over three years based on sales performance.

While the events are popular with the public and generate a lot of publicity, they don’t appear to be profitable.

Taste Festivals made an audited loss before tax of £62,000 for the year to the end of March 2012. Latest accounts for Taste of Dublin Ltd show it made a loss of €74,920 in the year to the end of March 2011 and had net liabilities of €118,696.

Stephen Flint Wood, senior vice-president and managing director of IMG Arts Entertainment said it was “excited about the potential to grow the business even further”.

Justin Clarke, chief executive for Taste Festivals, said IMG would provide “great support and new opportunities” to the company.