The fate of the Helsinki Hall is open.
Mika Anttonen is a straw man to save Helsinki Hall. Jarno Kuusinen/AOP
At the end of August, Iltalehti reported on the sales situation of Helsinki Hall (formerly Hartwall Arena). At that time, there was hope that the matter would be resolved, but a decisive step has not yet taken place.
Owner of energy company St1 Mika Anttonen told today Ilta-Sanomthat he is ready to sign up as a buyer, if the hall, which has been empty since spring, is not suitable for anyone else.
Anttonen emphasizes that he has not had any negotiations on the matter and is not considering doing so at this time. He confirms that interest has indeed been asked. The fate of a significant scene of events clearly makes the man ponder.
– My concern mainly comes from the fact that it has to be solved somehow, because that hall would have to be opened. Many things are behind it, he states about the building, which he can see directly from the premises of his company located in the shopping center Tripla.
In the Iltalehti story from August, the sources estimate that the transaction amount for the arena will be around 50 million. Anttonen, whose assets belong to the billionaire class, does not want to speculate on the correctness of the asking price, but a theoretical deal would be mostly a favor to the Finnish sports and event industry.
– I have no qualms about it, but you can’t leave it to rot either.
The project to sell the Helsinki hall is problematic because the voting power in the hall company is held by a Russian oligarch duo under sanctions Gennady Timchenko–Roman Rotenberg.
The hall’s situation is also interesting because two other large halls are planned for Helsinki. HIFK has announced that it will soon inform more about the future of the Garden Helsinki project, and last week it was announced that Suvilahti is aiming to build the largest event and multi-purpose arena in the Nordics with an ambitious schedule.