Arena Events subsidiary to pay out $4.8m in US government settlement

Arena Events Group has reached a settlement in relation to potential legal action and a US government investigation into its US subsidiary, Arena Americas, it announced on Thursday.

The international "turnkey event" design and delivery business said the settlement includes the payment by the subsidiary of $4.8m in equal instalments over five years, plus additional payments if revenue of $150m or net profits of $2.5m.

Last year the firm achieved revenue of $56.7m and net profits of $0.5m.

Greg Lawless, chief executive of Arena, said: "I am pleased that we have reached a settlement regarding the US legal matter and that we can now move forward and continue to develop and grow our US business without the significant distraction that a lengthy litigation process would have entailed."

Elsewhere, in the first half of the year, the AIM-traded company said it successfully delivered major global events for both new and existing customers, including Henley Royal Regatta, Wimbledon, the Fever Tree Championships at Queens, the US Open (golf) Championship and the Hong Kong Sevens.

With four acquisitions also completed during the period, Arena is now assessing “a number of further acquisitions”.

"The group remains on track to deliver on market expectations for the full year. We continue to grow the business organically as well as pursue a number of acquisition targets in line with our stated strategy," said Lawless.

Arena’s shares were up 1.60% at 63.50p at the close on Thursday.