It is a tale of two nightlife operators coming together, one has been in the red and the other on a streak of red-hot success.

Nightlife group LifeBrandz will be taking over the operations of popular nightspots Mink and Royal Room at Pan Pacific Singapore.

This will take effect as part of a new deal that sees lifestyle management agency Massive Collective becoming a major shareholder in the public-listed LifeBrandz.

The deal, announced Monday, could be a boon for LifeBrandz, a company that has been running losses and has seen a number of its venues, including Zirca and Cafe Del Mar, close in the past two years.

For the financial year ending 2012, the group posted a loss of $4.4 million.

Massive, on the other hand, has been successful with its ventures since it started the members-only nightclub Filter at Gallery Hotel - a collaboration with the Emerald Hill Group - in 2010.

The group has been running the two upscale nightspots, nightclub Mink and luxe club lounge Royal Room since 11/2 years ago.

Both venues draw full-house crowds on most weekends, with patrons sometimes having to wait an hour to enter.

Mr Phillip Poon, one of Massive's three directors, says of the new deal: "For us, it's about the creative aspect of it. Our experience is different from the way LifeBrandz operates, and I think we are more current with what the trends are and we'll be able to come up with more innovative concepts, with an aim for an expanded regional reach down the road."

Mr Poon, 35, adds that LifeBrandz's properties have a potential to be better utilised, adding: "We'd like to spur that growth a bit."

Massive was also a co-owner of Royal Room and Mink through the company Qumulus, in which it was a key stakeholder.

In a press release, LifeBrandz said it had agreed to buy over Qumulus - a company in which Massive is a key stakeholder - giving the latter a 14.05 per cent stake in the group valued at $3.48 million.

In return, LifeBrandz will take over the marketing and operations of Mink and Royal Room. The two nightspots will now be owned by LifeBrandz and Royal Concept.

Previously, they were owned by Royal Concept and Qumulus.

Aside from the change of ownership for these two clubs, Massive will play a consulting role in the management of all LifeBrandz venues, including those at Clarke Quay such as live music venue Aquanova and hip-hop club Rebel.

The deal will take effect once it is approved by the Singapore Exchange.

Calling the deal a "natural evolution" of a business relationship, LifeBrandz's chief executive Bernard Lim, 44, said he was optimistic about the tie-up with Massive, a group who has had an excellent track record opening successful nightspots and food and beverage outlets.

Massive had earlier teamed up with LifeBrandz to open nightclub Playhouse at Clarke Quay last year, and had been handling the promotions for the now- defunct club Zirca for the past year.

Mr Lim said: "We strongly believe that both Mink and Royal Room will further increase the profile of our company."

The new move comes in the wake of LifeBrandz's poor performance in the last two years: The group posted a $2.5 million loss in 2011, and a $4.4 million loss last year.

During that period, LifeBrandz also saw the closure of several outlets, including live music venue Yello Jello, brand- name beach club Cafe Del Mar in Sentosa, and east-meets-west club Coco at Clarke Quay.

It now runs live music venue Aquanova, Irish pub Mulligan's and boutique club Rebel.

More recently, the group decided to close nightclub Zirca after a five-year run.

It did not say how business was at Zirca, but patrons to the Clarke Quay area noted that the club was drawing a smaller crowd in the past few months compared to when it first opened.

Later this month, the space abandoned by Zirca will see the launch of a new nightspot, to be named Dream, which Mr Poon says will have a more "futuristic" look and a more accessible entrance along the main stretch of Clarke Quay.

The venue's entrance was previously located at the back of Clarke Quay, away from the main traffic, near the carpark.

Mr Lim says: "Like most clubs and venues, we believe we need to change and reinvent ourselves. With our new partners, our first focus is to refresh and rebrand that part of our Clarke Quay premises."

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