HMV Buys Itself A Big Gay Christmas Present In The Form Of G-A-Y and G-A-Y Late

Think the range of music being played at the G-A-Y Bar and G-A-Y Late bar has been getting a bit stale and limited of late? That could change very soon, as HMV, the music and games retailer have just agreed a £46 million takeover of MAMA Group that not only owns the G-A-Y bars but also the Hammersmith Apollo, the Forum, the Garage, Jazz Cafe, Heaven, the Borderline in London, as well as the Edinburgh Picture House, The Birmingham Institute, and Aberdeen’s The Warehouse.

Already owning 9.9% of MAMA, HMV says it has been able to make a bigger move in the live music business thanks to the support from investors who hold up to 34% of MAMA’s shares, and sees it trump a bid by SMS Financem, a Luxembourg-based investment firm a fortnight ago. After being hit hard by the downloads market, this move by HMV into the live music sector is a well timed one with recent results from MAMA showing record sales at the Hammersmith Apollo and strong demand for more gigs to be staged.

Alongside ownership of the venues, HMV will also become festival owners, with MAMA owning festivals in Stratford and Swansea, as well as Brighton’s Great Escape festival and a 60% stake in Lovebox, and the heads of an artist management business that represents the Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand and White Lies.

HMV say their vision for the future is not only look to promote and grow the current venues and festivals, but also to open further venues with their stores being used as a key tool in promoting the gigs and festivals.