By Amy-Jo Crowley and Emma-Victoria Farr
LONDON (Reuters) - Blackstone (NYSE:BX) and CVC are among a list of potential bidders for European festivals organiser Superstruct Entertainment, several sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
Superstruct, which runs events including electronic music festival Sonar in Spain and Mysteryland in the Netherlands, could be valued at as much as 1.5 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) in a sale, two sources said.
Private equity owner Providence is working with advisers at Liontree and HSBC (LON:HSBA) to gauge interest and is set to launch a formal auction process over the next month, the people said.
Providence has been planning the sale since last summer as live music festivals rebounded after the end of COVID-19 lockdowns, which has encouraged investment, Reuters reported.
Condé Nast owner Advance Publications, which is controlled by the Newhouse Family, has also been interested in Superstruct, two of the sources said. Advance is a shareholder in Reddit (NYSE:RDDT), whose shares have soared since its IPO last month.
Two sources said the sale is expected to draw interest from KKR, with one of them adding EQT to the list.
All four sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. Providence, CVC, Blackstone, EQT, Advance, KKR and HSBC declined to comment. Superstruct and Liontree did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Superstruct was founded in 2017 by Providence and James Barton, a former Live Nation president and founder of British night club Cream, with Providence providing seed financing.
It has since grown by acquiring festivals across Europe and Australia and now generates annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of more than 100 million euros, a source previously told Reuters.
($1 = 0.7875 pounds)