Big Beat buyer signs on the dotted line
The Mean Fiddler music group has signed the deal to buy Big Beat's 21 pubs, clubs and restaurants despite rumours the deal had collapsed.
Big Beat went into receivership in April this year. The Mean Fiddler deal was announce in August but there had been growing speculation the deal was off, after a last minute dispute over the final price for the group's assets.
A spokesman for KPMG Corporate Recovery said: "There is no problem - everything is progressing as planned. The deal is signed and the parties are finalising a few details."
During the receivership KPMG received over 450 enquiries for the business and 123 offers.
While KPMG was unable to confirm the price Mean Fiddler paid for Big Beat's assets, the figure was thought to be in the region of £20m.
The deal will preserve 600 jobs. The problems experienced with Home were thought to have led to the group's capitulation. It is not known if the deal will include the Leicester Square nightclub.
Big Beat had struggled to gain a late-night licence past 2am for the club, leaving it unable to compete with London's other premier nightspots such as Ministry of Sound and Fabric, which often stay open until six or eight in the morning.
A drugs raid shortly before the group went bust resulted in its licence being revoked further from 2am to 11pm. Mean Fiddler, founded by Irishman Vince Power in 1982, is one of Britain's most successful music promoters. As well as the Reading Festival, to which this year it signed Eminem, Travis and The Manic Street Preachers, it is also responsible for the majority of highlights on the live dance-music calendar, such as Homelands and Tribal Gathering.
The acquisition of Big Beat's assets is not the company's first foray into venue ownership. It recently opened The Rex in Stratford, a theatre dating back to 1880, which will host live music shows and club nights.
But a Leicester Square nightclub, a number of restaurants and whole arm of bars would seem to signal a new era for Mean Fiddler.
Related stories:
Big Beat pubs to be run by Mean Fiddler Group (20 August 2001)
