Trinity College Cambridge buys lease of O2 complex at Millennium Dome

Published 10th Oct 2009

Cambridge University's Trinity College has bought the lease to the O2 entertainment complex at the Millennium Dome for £24m.

Trinity, the university's richest college and one of Britain's biggest landowners, acquired Meridian Delta Dome Ltd, the holding company that owns the 999-year lease to the landmark building, from joint venture partners Quintain and Lend Lease. It had been in negotiations with the two property firms for several months. The price was about £4m higher than expected.

Through the deal, the college will collect rents linked to ticket sales at the O2 Arena, which has hosted concerts by stars including Madonna, U2, Britney Spears and Prince. Michael Jackson, who died in June, was due to play 50 shows there this summer. The O2 is set to host Green Day, Beyoncé and Pink later this year. It also has an 11-screen cinema complex, music club and an exhibition space.

Trinity, which was founded by Henry VIII in 1546 as part of the University of Cambridge, acquires the rental income that is paid by US entertainment and events company Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which runs the concert venue.

The deal does not affect AEG's lease or its operation of The O2, in which it has invested £350m.

The deal was announced to the London stock exchange by Quintain this morning. It said it received £842,000 in rental income in its last financial year. As a 49% shareholder in the joint venture, Quintain reaped £11.8m from the sale.

Quintain and Lend Lease will continue to own and manage the 150-acre estate surrounding the east London venue through the Greenwich Peninsula Regeneration project.

Lend Lease said some of the area is being transformed into a site comprising commercial, retail, academic and residential buildings.

Source: ' Guardian '

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