Livent finds a buyer

Troubled theatre producer Livent Inc. has agreed to sell most of its assets to New York-based SFX Entertainment Inc., the companies said Tuesday.

Under the deal, SFX is to acquire the Pantages Theatre in Toronto, the Ford Center for Performing Arts in New York and the Ford Center and Oriental Theatre in Chicago.

SFX, one the United States' biggest producers of live theatre, music and sporting events, will also gain the rights to the company's current productions of Fosse, Ragtime and The Phantom of the Opera, as well as any projects in development.

The Ford Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver and Livent's Toronto headquarters were not included in the agreement.

Financial terms of the deal-- subject to approval by bankruptcy courts in Canada and the United States-- were not disclosed, but recent published reports have placed the value at $110 million US in cash, deferred payment rights and SFX stock warrants.

That would be less than half of Livent's debt.

The once high-flying Livent has won critical acclaim for its productions and garnered 18 Tony Awards. But, the company was forced to seek bankruptcy protection in both Canada and the United States last November.

The company's new management subsequently fired founders Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb, saying they "fraudulently manipulated" financial records to hide losses of $100 million.

Livent has filed a $225-million lawsuit against Drabinsky and Gottlieb, and the two men also face indictments in U.S. federal court for allegedly defrauding investors and taking kickbacks.

Both Drabinsky and Gottlieb have denied any wrongdoing.