Harbottle & Lewis advise MAMA Group on £18m joint venture with HMV

Media and entertainment law firm, Harbottle & Lewis, has advised MAMA Group Plc, one of the UK's largest independent music companies, on its joint venture with leading high street music retailer HMV. The new venture provides a platform for both MAMA and HMV to increase their presence in the live venue market. The deal is also further evidence of the changing face of the British music industry and the move towards a 360 degree business model, which seeks to link artists and music fans in a more direct way.

The joint venture will own 11 of the UK's best known live music venues including The Garage, Jazz Cafe, Heaven, The Edinburgh Picture House, The Forum and The Hammersmith Apollo. Naming rights have also been granted to HMV as part of the deal which includes the renaming of the Hammersmith Apollo as the HMV Hammersmith Apollo. MAMA Group, which will continue to operate the venues on a day-to-day basis, will benefit from HMV's retailing and merchandising market presence. The venture will give HMV access to the live music sector and tickets for gigs will be sold through its stores and its website.

Corporate partner, Tim Parker, advised MAMA Group on all aspects of the transaction with Rhys Llewellyn (Senior Associate, Corporate), and a team which included Sarah Hunter (Property), Lee Gage (IP) and Emily Pritty (Employment).

Tim Parker commented: "We were delighted to assist MAMA with the deal which included elements of M&A and joint venture in one of our key practice areas. It was a substantial transaction which required a large team. Most of all, it is a very exciting deal for the business commercially and marks a new approach for the music industry to its customer base. We advised MAMA on the original acquisition of the venues which comprise the core of the business of the joint venture and it will be interesting to see the next phase of its development".

Dean James, Co-Chief Executive Officer of MAMA Group said: "It was good to work with Tim and his team at Harbottles again. We have built up a strong relationship over a number of years and it was helpful to have Harbottles' experience of the original acquisitions and the legal side of the business. It was an intensive transaction and the Harbottles team worked well with us to get it done".

For further information, please contact Tim Parker on 020 7667 5000.

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20/01/09
Note for Editors

Harbottle & Lewis LLP
Harbottle & Lewis provides specialist advice to the media and entertainment industries. It is consistently recognised as a leading firm in these areas by independent sources.

Firm overview: The firm's work encompasses all areas of media and entertainment, including film, television, broadcasting, sport, music, publishing, advertising fashion and theatre and remains unique in having expertise right across these sectors.

We provide a complete range of commercial advice to our clients, including: buying and selling businesses and companies, joint ventures, finance, capital markets, commercial disputes, property, employment, immigration and tax. Other specialist legal areas include, sponsorship, intellectual property, legal issues relating to media, including defamation, advertising, brand protection, data protection, privacy, art and gaming and gambling as well as private client and matrimonial work. The firm's expertise in other areas such as aviation and charities is also widely recognised.

Much of our work involves the technology, new media and telecoms industries and we have done ground-breaking work in connection with the digital exploitation of content and e-commerce generally. Specialist knowledge and understanding of the entertainment industry and related IP issues enables the firm to identify and deal with the key issues at an early stage, and then negotiate and provide commercially sound legal advice from a position of strength.

Recent work:
We have advised on a number of significant corporate deals in the media and entertainment sector including:

• 75% acquisition of Raymond Gubbay Ltd by Deutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG)
• Virgin Holidays acquisition of Fast Track Holidays
• Acquisition of Objective Productions by All3Media
• Acquisitions of Minotaur International and Greenlit Rights by Target Entertainment
• Joint venture agreement between Channel 4 and Emap plc
• Acquisition of Prospect Pictures, September Films and West Park Pictures by DCD Media
• Virgin Active acquisition of Holmes Place
• Financing and acquisitions of development houses by SCi/Eidos and Take 2

Issued by
Caroline Renton
Head of Marketing
caroline.renton@harbottle.com
Tel: 020 7667 5231