After selling off all of the American Live Nation venues for over $90 million, the UK theatre operator is now set to sell off all of their theatres within the UK as well. The news made the front page of The Stage and shocked the theatre world in the UK.

The Live Nation sale announcement is likely to set off a competition for the a few of the high profile UK venues included in the Live Nation portfolio including the West End’s Lyceum Theatre and the Apollo Victoria theatre.

However, at the moment Live Nation is only accepting bids for those willing to buy the entire UK theatre portfolio in a one bundle deal although they have not ruled out breaking the stock if needed. Industry forecasters estimate that the entire bundle of stock could bring in over £75 million for Live Nation.

Paul Latham, the chief operating officer of Live Nation confirmed that bidding has begun but admitted that the company may not sell them. He went on to state that just because bidding has opened does not mean that the company will sell, as they intend to wait until an offer reaches the table that is too good for them to refuse. In other words, Live Nation wants to see a suitable chunk of cash before they sell off the UK stock.

For the time being, The Lyceum is showing the renowned Disney Lion King production and the Apollo Victoria is home to Wicked. Live Nation has not yet mentioned if a sale would affect the runs of both productions.