Madison Square Garden Co. Buying Ex-Home of L.A. Lakers

Madison Square Garden Co. (MSG), the sports and entertainment company that owns the New York Knicks, will acquire the former home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kings for $23.5 million.

MSG is buying the Forum arena in Inglewood, California, from Forum Enterprises Inc., a church-owned corporation, according to a statement today. Acquiring the venue, which hosted the National Basketball Association's Lakers and the National Hockey League’s Kings games until 1999, is part of a company strategy of renovating historic sites, MSG said.

The Forum extends MSG’s real estate and event-planning reach to the greater Los Angeles area and challenges Anschutz Entertainment Group, which operates the 19,000-seat Staples Center and 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre in the city’s downtown, for concerts and shows.

The purchase price was “in line with investors’ hopes” and “less than feared,” David Joyce, a New York-based analyst at Miller Tabak & Co., said in a note to clients. The purchase could result in a 7.5 percent annual return on investment, Joyce estimated.

MSG already owns Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, New York’s Beacon Theatre, the Chicago Theatre and Boston’s Wang Theater. MSG’s entertainment division made up 8.6 percent of the company’s total revenue for quarter ended March 31.

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