Madison Square Garden To Explore Possible Split

Madison Square Garden‘s Board of Directors has approved a plan to explore a possible spin-off to separate its entertainment businesses from its media and sports businesses, creating two distinct publicly traded companies.

In addition to a portfolio of venues, the live entertainment company would include: MSG booking, MSG’s productions, venue management capabilities, and strategic entertainment joint ventures.

The sports and media company would include MSG’s professional sports franchises, regional sports networks, and MSG’s interest in SiTV Media Inc., the parent company of NUVOtv and Fuse networks.

If the Company proceeds with the spin-off transaction, it would be structured as a tax-free pro rata spin-off to all MSG shareholders. MSG shareholders would own shares in both of the new companies, which would provide shareholders with the ability to more clearly evaluate each company’s businesses and prospects.

Tad Smith, president and CEO of The Madison Square Garden Company, said, “Investors favor companies with greater strategic focus on their core businesses. We are exploring the opportunity to improve upon the excellent shareholder return created since MSG’s spin-off over four years ago by separating our business into two companies, each with its own distinct value proposition for investors. The live entertainment company would be a premier live event and venue management company with expertise in areas such as productions and other entertainment content, marketing, sales, and event operations. The sports and media company would be a leading company that fields championship caliber sports teams and has the rights to distribute sports content on multiple media platforms. The first company would capitalize on significant opportunities to grow rapidly within the changing entertainment landscape. The second would enjoy steady growth and high cash flow that we expect will result in capital returns to shareholders.”