Mean Fiddler chairman sells stake to rival

Mean Fiddler chairman, Mr Vince Power, yesterday relinquished majority control of the concert and music group in a €6.6 million deal with one of his competitors, Mr Denis Desmond's MCD Production Ltd.

Mr Power revealed that he had sold 10 million of the shares he held in the London-listed group through his personal trusts to MCD for a total of £4.625 million sterling (€6.6 million), or 46.25 pence per share. The shares amount to a 16.21 per cent stake in the company.

The deal has left Mr Power with 34.9 per cent of the company or 21.5 million shares. He had retained a majority 51.1 per cent holding in the group from the time it floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1999. MCD's biggest shareholder and managing director, Mr Denis Desmond, will join the Mean Fiddler board.

In a statement, Mr Power said that he thought long and hard about giving up majority control of the group he founded, but stressed that the deal was the right one for its future. "I remain fully committed to the group and will continue to focus all my energy on increasing the value of my remaining shareholding along with that of every other shareholder," he said.

Mr Desmond said that the deal would allow MCD and Mean Fiddler to scale their businesses to take advantage of significant opportunities in the live music market. He said his company was a committed long-term investor in the London-based group.

Founded by the Waterford-born Mr Power, The Mean Fiddler group is the UK's biggest live music venue and promotions group. Along with the Mean Fiddler club and Old Fiddler in London and Whelans in Dublin, it owns a number of high-profile British venues including the Jazz Cafe, Astoria and Borderline.

Its Justin Timberlake 2003/ 2004 UK tour has sold £12.5 million worth of tickets. Last summer it promoted the Reading and Leeds rock festivals. It has a 24 per cent interest in the Glastonbury Festival, a share that will increase to 40 per cent in 2005. Glastonbury sold £12 million worth of tickets this year. The Mean Fiddler estimates its customer base at five million people.

MCD Productions is the largest concert promoter in Ireland. It was the promoter behind the Witness Festival at Punchestown last summer. It also promoted the Féile series of festivals at Thurles, Co Tipperary, during the mid-1990s.

According to the latest returns to the Companies' Registration Office, MCD made a profit before tax of €832,000 in the year to December 31st last.

Shareholders' funds stood at €3.2 million, while it had over €6 million in the bank. Mr Desmond and his wife, Ms Caroline Downey, are listed as shareholders. He is the majority holder with 2.54 million shares.