Live Nation Entertainment is live music’s dominant force and among the biggest occupiers of space in the events business. But the company is now looking to make big spending cuts, including renegotiating on $2.3 billion in lease deals.
The Beverly Hills-based company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday that it hammered out a new $120 million line of credit, but still must reduce costs amid a coronavirus pandemic that has paralyzed the live events industry. On March 12, the company announced the suspension of all events it tickets, promotes, and hosts.
Cuts include salary reductions for top executives, and also involve “rent re-negotiations,” which were part of a list of chopping block items that also included hiring freezes and furloughs.
The filing does not say what rents will be renegotiated, and messages left with the company Monday were not returned.
Live Nation “owns, operates or leases 143 entertainment venues throughout North America and 79 entertainment venues internationally,” according to the company’s 2019 annual report. It reported $2.3 billion in total lease liabilities, including $194.8 million due at the end of 2020.
Live Nation’s planned rent renegotiations follow the company revamping its L.A. office space portfolio.
The company vacated seven floors at its 7060 Hollywood Boulevard office spot last November, property owned by New York City-based LeFrak Organization.
The move came a month after Live Nation leased nearly 98,000 square feet of office space at 1041 N. Formosa Ave. in West Hollywood from landlord CIM Group.
And in January 2019, Live Nation leased 95,000 square feet of Beverly Hills land developed by the Worthe Estate Group.
Live Nation’s corporate headquarters is at 9348 Civic Center Drive, a building that Tishman Speyer bought in 2011. The corporate HQ lease is already due to be reworked June 30, according to public filings.
With $10.5 billion in 2019 revenue and $70 million in net profits, Live Nation has an outsized international market share of ticketing and concert booking. The Justice Department announced in December an antitrust investigation into the company.
The live event goliath voiced optimism about weathering the pandemic in its SEC filing, noting concertgoers have so far accepted rainchecks instead of refunds. The company’s stock is trading at $39 a share, compared to $75 a share in late February.