Three leisure industry specialists have bought in-administration nightclub firm Luminar in a £45m deal which is expected to save 3,000 jobs.
The company, which runs the Lava & Ignite, Oceana and Liquid clubs, went into administration with debts of £140m in October, owing more than £80m to banks.
It was been taken over by Peter Marks, a former Luminar executive, Alex Geffert, a former managing director of the Whitbread leisure and nightclub business, and Joe Heanen.
Marks said there has always been a "solid core business" within Luminar but it had struggled during the economic downturn and, in particular, by high levels of unemployment among 18- to 24-year-olds.
Luminar was the largest UK nightclub owner by number of venues, with 75 clubs across the UK. It now has 66 operating nightclubs.
Nightclub operator Luminar enters administration >>
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By Neil Gerrard
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