MAMA holds more than 2,700 events annually in the UK, with up to one million people visiting its venues and 150,000 attending its festivals every year.
The division will pursue a focused buy-and-build strategy targeting both UK and overseas opportunities.
MAMA runs a nationwide network of live music venues with capacities ranging up to 2,300. These include The Forum, The Garage, Camden Barfly, Jazz Cafe and The Borderline in London as well as the Edinburgh Picture House, the Manchester Ritz and the Birmingham Institute regionally.
LDC has a growing track record in the leisure sector. Recent investments include Boom Pictures, Ocean Outdoors, WRG Creative, and Orion Media.
Alistair Pendleton, LDC investment director says, ‘Live Music is a growing and increasingly important sector of the UK economy and in supporting the MBO of MAMA Group we believe we are backing the best management team and the most recognised, successful brand in the business.
‘MAMA Group is renowned for its iconic venues, where some of the world’s most successful music artists have performed and hugely popular music festivals, both in the UK and overseas, which have attracted strong followings and showcased some excellent new artists.
Management has an exciting buy-and-build strategy and LDC has the resources, skills and track record to help them accelerate their plans and develop the Group into a globally-recognised business and brand.’
MAMA group CEO Dean James adds, ‘To say I am pleased that MAMA has been able to partner with LDC seems inadequate. MAMA has for some time been one of the leading live music companies in the UK and with LDC we will develop our venue and festival business to consolidate our position in this market, and will look to expand into Asia and America.
‘We will build on our recent additions to the promotions team and will also re-establish MAMA’s artist services business. MAMA’s distribution assets, The Fly, venue estate, festivals and our tech platform, make it the perfect partner for any artist wishing to build and engage with its fanbase.’
