London based live music and venue company Mean Fiddler, owned by Live Nation and MCD's Hamsard Ltd, has announced it has received an offer from another London based live music firm, the MAMA Group, to buy a number of its venues in the capital - including The Jazz Café, The Garage, The Borderline, GAY Bar, GAY Late and The Old Mean Fiddler Venue in Harlesden - adding that it is seriously considering the proposed deal.
Mean Fiddler MD Melvin Benn told reporters: "We consider the offer to be positive and are currently awaiting confirmation of that offer being confirmed before a final decision is to be taken. We anticipate the offer to be formalised in early August. I can confirm that the offer does not include and would not be considered for The Astoria venues or any of the festivals or events and that absolutely no redundancies will take place as a result of the offer being formalised and accepted".
As previously reported, the MAMA Group has interests across the music industry, with its live music business traditionally focused on the Barfly network of small music venues owned by its Channelfly subsidiary, although its venue assets increased significantly earlier this year when it acquired the London Forum and Hammersmith Apollo off Live Nation/Hamsard after they were ordered to sell the venues by competition officials in order to gain approval for their acquisition of a majority stake in the Academy Music Group.