MAMA Festivals is a live music and entertainment company which owns and operates a number of live music venues and festivals in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2005, it has acquired many other venue-holding companies, expanding its reach significantly across England. The company owns six London venues and three regional venues: Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen, The Forum in

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath. Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...

, The Garage in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, The Institute in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, The Ritz in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, and The Arts Club in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. The venues range in capacity from 300 to 2,300. In addition, MAMA operates several festivals and events, including Lovebox (London), Wilderness (

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

), The Great Escape (

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

), Somersault (

North Devon North Devon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based just outside Barnstaple, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Ilfracombe, Lynton and Lynmouth and Sout ...

), Global Gathering (

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

Godskitchen Godskitchen is an international superclub brand which is associated with dance music and organises events, particularly in the UK and US. The company used to run a club night of the same name at their nightclub AIR (nightclub), AIR, in Birmingham ...

, and Future Gods events.

History

MAMA was founded by Adam Driscoll and Dean James in 2005 via the reverse takeover of Campus Media by Stonesthrow Media (Channelfly Group). The newly re-branded MAMA Group was admitted to AIM in December 2005. MAMA stands for Music and Media Assets. On 11 June 2007, the company purchased the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

and The Forum. The same year, MAMA Group acquired Mean Fiddler Holdings Limited the company which owned The Jazz Café, The Garage, The Borderline, and held a majority share in G-A-Y. On 6 March 2008, the group acquired The Picture House,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

from Luminar Liquid Limited, a subsidiary of Luminar Group Holdings plc. On 1 April 2008, MAMA acquired The institute, Birmingham and on 13 June 2008, they acquired a majority share in Global Gathering Group Limited (formerly Angel Music Group Limited), the company which owns GlobalGathering, Godskitchen, and Future Gods brands. MAMA acquired 100% of Global Gathering Group Limited in 2011. On 22 September 2008, MAMA Group acquired Heaven (London) Limited, the company which owns the leasehold of the Heaven Nightclub. On 15 January 2009, HMV Group purchased a 50 percent stake in MAMA Group. The new company, Mean Fiddler Group Limited, operated 11 venues across the United Kingdom, including the Hammersmith Apollo, The Forum in Kentish Town, The Garage, Jazz Café, The Edinburgh Picture House, Digbeth Institute in Birmingham, Heaven, G-A-Y Bar, G-A-Y Late, The Borderline, and Aberdeen's Moshulu. In January 2010, HMV bought the whole of the MAMA Group in a deal worth £46m. HMV sold the Hammersmith Apollo to AEG Live and Eventim UK in May 2012 for £32 million. It sold the remainder of MAMA & Company to management backed by

Lloyds Development Capital Lloyds Development Capital (Holdings) Limited (LDC), is a mid-market private equity house and subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group, established in 1981 as Lloyds Development Capital Limited. From 1999 to 2011, it was known as Lloyds TSB Developmen ...

in December 2012 for £7.3 million, which also included the company's 50% stake in Mean Fiddler Group (excluding Heaven and the G-A-Y businesses). March 2013, MAMA acquired East Village Arts Club (formerly The Masque),

on 5 February 2013 and Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen. In 2015, MAMA was acquired by LN-Gaiety, a joint venture of Live Nation UK and the parent company of

MCD Productions MCD Productions is an Irish concert promotion company. Established in 1980, and headquartered in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin. History The company was founded by Eamonn McCann and Denis Desmond, the company name MCD is made up of their in ...

. Three MAMA venues, the Ritz in Manchester, the Forum in Kentish Town and the Institute in Birmingham, would be rebranded by Live Nation as the O2 Ritz Manchester, O2 Forum Kentish Town, and O2 Institute Birmingham respectively.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:MAMA Festivals Live Nation Entertainment Event management companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in the City of Westminster Entertainment companies established in 2005 2005 establishments in England Festival organizations