Two of Australia’s most prominent music entities are no longer true blue. As Bloomberg reports, iconic Australian broadcaster Nine Entertainment have sold their events and entertainment division, Nine Live, to Asian private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners.

Among the company’s assets are ticket retailing giant Ticketek and Allphones Arena in Sydney’s Olympic Park, which in the past has hosted concerts by Metallica, Katy Perry, and Bruce Springsteen, and is currently set to host shows by Motley Crue and Nickelback.

According to the Financial Review, Nine Entertainment are now poised to announce a boost to their dividend and share buyback program, having pocketed a whopping $640 million from the sale of Nine Live. The sale will leave Nine debt-free for the first time since a 2006 buyout.

“Affinity is excited to invest in Australia’s leading live events and ticketing company,” said Brett Sutton, head of Australia & New Zealand at Affinity (via Mumbrella). “Nine Live is an excellent company with strong management and has the capacity for significant growth throughout the region.”

“Affinity looks forward to partnering with Nine Live to explore opportunities for expansion while maintaining Nine Live’s outstanding track record of customer service.” As Yahoo reports, the acquisition comes days after Nine Live announced a partnership with New Zealand’s MediaWorks.

“We look forward to developing innovative and game-changing, integrated solutions to bring the best in live entertainment to New Zealand audiences, a model that has been very successful for us in Australia,” said Nine Live CEO Geoff Jones of the venture.

“Nine Live is the leader in the live space in the Australian market and the breadth and reach of MediaWorks’ platforms, and our expertise in the music and entertainment space, makes this a natural fit,” added Mark Wheldon of MediaWorks.

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According to The Australian, reports indicate Nine is planning on maintaining a conservative balance sheet to keep the door open for acquisition by an international media company or private equity firm, however observers believe Fairfax Media is a contender.

Meanwhile, the sale also bolsters the Australian profile of Affinity, one of Asia’s largest private equity firms, who paid $336 million for a one-third stake in Virgin Australia’s frequent-flier program in October and also have shares in IPAC Securities and Primo Smallgoods.

However, notably absent from the company’s portfolio are any entertainment assets, making it unclear how they would go about managing Nine Live and thus one of Australia’s most recognisable ticketing agencies and one of its largest arena venues.

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