The ever expanding London based MAMA Group has further expanded - and having done a lot a expanding its live music operations of late, this deal expands the company's artist management assets.
MAMA have taken a 20% stake in Canadian music management powerhouse Nettwerk Music Group in a deal worth $6 million. The deal sees MAMA become shareholders in Nettwerk's management, label and music publishing companies, while Nettwerk owners Ric Arboit, Dan Fraser, Mark Jowett and Terry McBride will get shares in the MAMA group, which owns venues like the Hammersmith Apollo, Jazz Cafe, Forum and Borderline in London, the UK-wide Barfly network, The Fly magazine, and management firms SuperVision and SBM.
It is in the artist management domain that Nettwerk and MAMA have the most synergy, with the two companies saying that the deal creates "the world's largest management collective". Together the companies will manage the likes of Avril Lavigne, Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan, Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand and The Cribs.
Confirming the deal, MAMA co-CEOs Adam Driscoll and Dean James told CMU: "We are delighted that [our] company has been able to make this investment in the Nettwerk companies and equally delighted that the investment has resulted in the Nettwerk Partners becoming shareholders in MAMA. We believe that this alliance creates one of the most exciting opportunities in the music industry - not by creating the biggest music business, but by combining our skills and assets to become the best. We expect this investment to be revenue enhancing for MAMA in our 08/09 fiscal year and believe that there are significant opportunities for this partnership to generate substantial additional value for MAMA in the coming years".
Nettwerk's McBride added: "We are looking forward to working with MAMA to continue to create the most innovative and exciting music company in the industry today. We believe that this alliance will make us the most attractive home for music artists".