'Cats' creator Lloyd Webber sells 4 London venues

[October 30, 2010]  LONDON (AP) -- Andrew Lloyd Webber says his company has sold four of its seven London theaters to a group headed by former senior British television executive Michael Grade.

The midsize venues include the Cambridge, the New London, the Palace, and Her Majesty's -- which has served as the home of Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" for the past 25 years.

Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group will retain its larger music houses: the Palladium, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and a 50 percent interest in the Adelphi.

The value of the sale wasn't disclosed but reports put the theaters' price tag at 50 million pounds ($80 million.)

Contact information for the buyer, GradeLinnit, led by Grade, could not be immediately located Thursday.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.