UK competition watchdog approves Live Nation takeover of MCD

The takeover of concert promoter MCD Productions by international promoter and venue owner Live Nation has cleared its final regulatory hurdle by being approved by the UK's competition watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The CMA has ruled - after a 16-month investigation - that the deal does not raise competition concerns.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission - or CCPC - approved the deal last July.

The deal by Denis Desmond and Caroline Downey to sell half of MCD to their joint venture with Live Nation, LN Gaiety Holdings (LNG) was first announced in August 2018.

Mr Desmond and Ms Downey previously fully controlled MCD, but by selling to LNG they effectively retain a half share.

Mr Desmond welcomed the CMA decision but said the process had left him “drained”.

He said he was “very happy” that the deal has now been approved. However, he said that the financial cost to LNG, in dealing with the regulatory investigations, has been very high with €3m costs incurred by the joint venture.

That is just third party costs and doesn’t take into account the huge amount of staff resources and huge amount of time involving teams of people dealing with the process.

Mr Desmond said that it is good that the authorities looked in detail into the deal in two very thorough investigations, but it was "disappointing" that the process took up so much resources and time.

Mr Desmond said that the deal is not anti-competitive and "we had proof of that with the history we have had with Live Nation in the UK. It is not like this was a new deal”.

He said that he has worked with Live Nation through their joint venture, LNG, for the past 14 years.