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Dreamland company Sands Heritage has been taken over by LN Gaiety Holdings, a subsidiary of concert and festival giant Live Nation.
Documents on Companies House show LN-Gaiety listed as taking significant control on Thursday [December 14] meaning it is the new owner of Dreamland.
New directors include Stuart Douglas and Lynn Lavelle, who are also directors for Live Nation Apollo and Cardiff and a number of festival companies including Boomtown Festival, Isle of Wight Festival, Cream Events and more.
Live Nation Entertainment is an American events promoter and venue operator based in Beverly Hills which has numerous subsidiaries including Live Nation UK which owns 51% of Academy Music Group, giving it a stake in most major music festivals.
It is understood Sands Heritage staff were called to an ’emergency’ meeting yesterday.
A statement from LN Gaiety says: “LN-Gaiety confirms it has acquired Dreamland in Margate. Working with CEO Eddie Kemsley, the team will enhance its offer at this much-loved resort.
“Dreamland is the ultimate seaside destination for music, rides, and entertainment with great artists in 2024 including Status Quo, Madness, Richard Ashcroft, Becky Hill, Limp Bizkit, Craig David and many more.”
A Dreamland spokesperson added: “We are delighted that LN-Gaiety has become the new owner of Dreamland in Margate. The acquisition ensures the legendary venue can carry on providing world class entertainment for people of all ages.
“It is very much business as usual for Dreamland, we look forward to re-opening our historic amusement park at Easter for another summer season, as well as welcoming some of the very best live bands and acts both in our indoor spaces and next summer on the amazing Scenic Stage.
“In the meantime, we can’t wait to welcome people in the run up to the festive season at Dreamland’s Christmas World!”
In February this year Dreamland Margate was granted a new premises licence which allowed a doubling of outdoor events and extended eight indoor events per year from a 2am closing to 4am.
The licence also permits the park to hold four-dayer events – up from the current two-dayers- although there must be at least 28 days between each of these.
This year has seen a number of big hitters perform at Dreamland, from Placebo and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man to Tom Jones, Happy Mondays and Olly Murs.
The 2024 line up includes Bryan Adams, Limp Bizkit, Simple Minds, Paloma Faith, Manic Street Preachers, Craig David, Busted and more.
A resolution for Sands Heritage and signed by Dreamland CEO Eddie Kemsley on behalf of Margate Estates Ltd – the real estate and leisure company which owned Dreamland – states “share capital of the company is reduced from £63,724,468 to £1 by cancelling and extinguishing 63,724,467 of the issued ordinary shares of £1 each.”
A capital reduction can be used to simplify a company’s capital structure, making it more efficient. It can also be used to distribute dividends to shareholders, increasing their value. It also allows for the elimination or reduction of accumulated losses.
Figures for 2021 showed an operating loss for Dreamland of £1.73m. In 2020 the loss was £5.5m. Overall balance sheet losses carried for the company totalled £36,856,938 when accounts for 2021 were submitted. Accounts for 2022 are due to be submitted by December 31 this year.
LN Gaiety Holdings show a profit of £18.8m in accounts for 2021.
Previous Dreamland funders Arrowgrass Capital Partners announced plans to close down in 2019 with Sands Heritage Ltd remaining in contact with the hedge fund as arrangements were made for the sell-off of Arrowgrass investments and outstanding loans.
Arrowgrass made an investment of circa £25million prior to Dreamland’s reopening in May 2017, bringing Sands Heritage out of administration in October of that year.
