CORK, Ireland (CelebrityAccess) — The City of Cork was forced to abandon a tender process for a new, €50m concert venue after Live Nation, the company selected as the venue operator by both of the bidding parties, withdrew from the project.
According to The Herald, the two competing bidders, BAM/Heineken and O’Callaghan Properties were both competing for up to €16m of public funding for the new venue through the public tender process. However, after Live Nation pulled out, only BAM/Heineken submitted a bid, while O’Callaghan Properties decided to hold off on their bid, concerned about the validity of such an offer.
"We are not surprised at this outcome," Owen O'Callaghan told The Herald. "The withdrawal of Live Nation, the proposed operator for both bidders, from the process some weeks ago ensured that the competitive process around public funding for the project could not be finalised."
Both bidding parties remain committed to the idea of an events center for the Cork and will wait for the City's revised process.
"We will look carefully at the new process that is being put in place by the city council and assess whether it can form a realistic basis for the delivery of this important project for Cork," O’Callaghan told The Herald.
Live Nation withdrew itself from the process in July after voicing concerns over some provisions of the funding agreement for the venue, which Live Nation characterized as “neither relevant nor appropriate for a venue of this type.”
“Unfortunately, the nature of the clauses proposed are entirely inappropriate for a project involving the provision of a significant equity stake by [Live Nation], which will also ultimately be responsible for the operation of the venue,” wrote Live Nation's Mike Adamson in a letter to PriceWaterhouseCoopers and reported on by the Irish Examiner. – Staff Writers
