HMV’s recommended cash offer for MAMA Group has been declared unconditional and the deal is done. HMV said that as at January 29th it had received valid acceptances in respect of 455,812,753 MAMA shares or 56.4 percent of the total.
“I am delighted that our offer for MAMA Group has been successful, and to welcome our new colleagues from MAMA to HMV,” said HMV chief executive Simon Fox in a statement. “The acquisition represents a further significant step for HMV as we continue the transformation of our business begun in 2007. Building on the successful platform created by the formation of our joint venture with MAMA just over a year ago, we will be embarking on exciting new growth plans for the Group in live music and ticketing.”
The MAMA Group is comprised of three divisions:
-Live Music, which includes the Barfly network of live music venues, the Hammersmith Apollo, the Jazz Cafe, the Forum and the Borderline in London and also holds interests in live music events including the Lovebox festival;
-Artist Services, which includes artist and producer management, music publishing, merchandising and investments in recording businesses; and
-Consumer, which includes The Fly, one of the UK’s widest distributed music magazines, Campus Group, a collection of specialist media and marketing agencies working for clients interested in the student and wider youth audiences and a ticketing business.
–Music and Media Solutions is responsible for all brand partnerships activity and is uniquely positioned to integrate and deliver a variety of brand objectives across MAMA Group’s stable of assets.
HMV Group (LSE: HMV) is an international entertainment retail chain and is the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom and Canada. The company also operates stores in Ireland, Hong Kong and Singapore. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Acquisitions by the HMV Group include Waterstone’s in 1998 from W H Smith, the music retailer Fopp in August 2007, and selected Zavvi retail outlets in February 2009.
Simon Fox has been Chief Executive Officer since 28 September 2006. For this role he is paid an annual salary of £493,000.
HMV stands for His Master’s Voice, a painting by Francis Barraud, A.R.A. of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone. In the original painting, the dog was listening to a cylinder phonograph.
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