DUBLIN (CelebrityAccess) — Veteran concert promoters Denis Desmond and Caroline Downey have sold a stake in their concert promotion company MCD Productions to Live Nation-Gaiety.
According to the Irish Times, Live Nation-Gaiety, a joint venture between Live Nation and Desmond and Downey’s Gaiety Investments, bought MCD in full, effectively ceding a 50% stake in the company to Live Nation.
Details of the move by LNG were first reported on Wednesday by the Irish music publication Hot Press.
MCD Productions owns and operates a number of venues including, The Ambassador and The Academy, but, according to Hot Press, the deal does not include the two Dublin venues Gaiety theatre or the Olympia, both of which are owned separately by Gaiety Investments.
Live Nation-Gaiety operates the Academy and Mama Group venue chains in the UK and Ireland and has an interest in festivals including Manchester’s Parklife, Isle Of Wight, Electric Picnic, and Longitude.
The sale strengthens Desmond’s ties to Live Nation, having served as Chairman of Promotions for the company’s UK/Ireland operations since 2015. The timing of the transaction seems particularly notable, as it coincides with the retirement of longtime Live Nation UK President and Chief Operating Officer Paul Latham.
