Andrew Lloyd Webber in Talks to Sell Four West End Theaters

Andrew Lloyd Webber is in talks to sell four of his London theaters. Under consideration or sale are the Garrick, Duchess, Apollo and Lyric, all of which are primarily used for straight plays, according to Variety.

Lloyd Webber's The Really Useful Group, in partnership with Bridgepoint Capital, currently owns and manages 12 London theaters. In addition to the four previously mentioned, they are the Adelphi for which they have a half share with the Nederlander organization, Cambridge, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Gielgud, Her Majesty's, London Palladium, New London and Palace. Delfont Mackintosh group recently took over the Queen's Theatre, which used to be operated by Really Useful and, in March 2006, Delfont Mackintosh will take over the Gielgud.

According to a report in today's Evening Standard, Lloyd Webber may be hoping to sell off more than just a few theaters. An unnamed American bidder has reportedly offered the mogul "hundreds of millions of pounds" for his whole empire, including the rights to his shows. Lloyd Webber is reportedly considering the offer, which came in last month, even going so far as to hire Patrick McKenna a former Really Useful chief executive who went on to form a large entertainment investment and advisory company to insure he gets the best deal.

If Lloyd Webber does decide to sell off everything, the fate of the entire Really Useful Group would be in question. Founded by Lloyd Webber in 1977, RUG is an International entertainment company actively involved in theater, film, television, video and concert productions, merchandising, magazine publishing, records and music publishing. While they sometimes have a hand in producing outside works, RUG's primary focus in the past has been, in addition to the running of theaters, the presentation of the composer's works.