LDC picks up Birmingham NEC for £307m

Alice Murray
16 January 2015

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LDC has completed its first deal of the year, paying ТЃ307m to purchase the National Exhibition Centre Group (NEC) from Birmingham City Council.

Led by the GP's Birmingham team, the deal sees LDC taking NEC private for the first time.

Following the transaction, LDC intends to support NEC's strategic initiatives, which include a £100m refurbishment and diversification into new commercial areas.

The £307m valuation includes the value of the leases of the Hilton Metropole and Crowne Plaza hotels, which are both based on the NEC site. These will be retained by Birmingham City Council, along with the freeholds for all NEC sites.

Debt
The deal was supported by Macquarie, which led and arranged bank facilities.

Company
The group comprises the exhibition centre itself, the Genting Arena, the Barclaycard Arena (previously known as the National Indoor Arena) and the International Convention Centre, as well as commercial activities including The Ticket Factory, specialist catering business Amadeus and third-party venue management operations.

The deal also includes Birmingham City Council's holding in Genting Resorts World, a combined leisure facility and hotel at the NEC site.

People
The deal was led by LDC CEO Martin Draper and director Steve Aston, who will both take seats on the board.

Paul Thandi is CEO of NEC.

Advisers
Equity – Plural Strategy Group (Commercial due diligence); Eversheds (Legal); Deloitte (Financial due diligence).
Management – Catalyst Corporate Finance (Corporate finance); Gateley (Legal).
Vendor – Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co (Legal).