LA billionaire targets The O2’s parent company
BILLIONAIRE American investor Patrick Soon-Shiong is preparing a bid for Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), owner of The O2 complex on Greenwich Peninsula, reports suggested last night.
Soon-Shiong is expected to join forces with financial services group Guggenheim Partners to launch a bid for the company, which operates entertainment venues across the world and in most key US markets.
AEG said last week that it was exploring a sale of the company and had retained Blackstone Advisory Partners to assemble a list of potential bidders.
This could result in the break-up of the group, which includes one of the world’s biggest concert promoters as well as stakes in sports teams such as LA Galaxy football team, which David Beckham plays for, and a wide-ranging property portfolio.
The group, owned by founder Phil Anschutz, has been valued at more than $6bn (£3.6bn).
Soon-Shiong’s interest in the firm is thought to have been increased by AEG’s planned construction of a new American Football stadium in downtown Los Angeles, raising the prospect that he could help bring back a NFL franchise to the city.