Majority stake in Rocca al Mare hall for sale

Two Estonian companies are interested in buying a 47 percent stake in the operation of Tallinn's Rocca al Mare multipurpose arena.

The company that currently owns the share, Eesti Aavo Lillemae, has not disclosed the names of the companies or the share's asking price, the company confirmed on May 30.

The city of Tallinn, which owns 13 percent of the shares in the hall, and the state, a 36 percent shareholder, have also expressed interest in selling.

Lillemae officials said the deal could be signed by mid-June.

Lawyers are presently drafting an agreement, which would sell the stake to one of the two interested companies.

The company wants to sell its holding in the loss-making Rocca al Mare hall because neither the city of Tallinn nor the state has shown any interest in providing additional financing, leaving the hall's fate in the hands of private investors.

Officials say the hall can book few internationally known acts because of high ticket prices.

The hall posted a loss of 4.7 million kroons (300,000 euros) on a turnover of 27.2 million kroons last year.