Meridian Delta, the consortium made up of Quintain, Lend Lease and the Anschutz Entertainment Group, looks set to become the government’s preferred bidder to take over the running of the Millennium Dome.
Lord Falconer, the minister in charge of the Dome disposal, is expected to announce this afternoon that the government will join in a public-private partnership with Meridian Delta, which has the backing of US billionaire Philip Anschutz.
The consortium plans to convert the Dome into a 20,000-seat sports and live entertainment arena, surrounded by 150 acres of offices and homes, including low-cost housing.
Anschutz, which owns the Lakers baseball team, will be responsible for the running of the Dome, while Lend Lease and Quintain will develop the rest of the Greenwich peninsula. Quintain already owns part of the peninsula.
The government previously offered the Dome to Japanese corporation Nomura, which pulled out of the deal claiming that important financial information had been withheld.
In November 2000 the government turned to the underbidder, Legacy, which wanted to buy the Dome for £125m and turn it into a business park. However, by February 2001 the deal had fallen apart and the Dome was back on the market.
Meridian Delta would not confirm that it has been selected as preferred bidder, but said it will wait for the official announcement in Parliament this afternoon before commenting.
The other bidders for the Greenwich attraction were Tops Estates, which wanted to turn the site into a sports training centre, and the Wellcome Trust, which planned to use the Dome as a bio-research centre.
EGi News 18/12/01
