Perhaps one of the worst-kept secrets in the city is now officially out for all to hear: Yes, Richard King has finally sold The Blue Note.

After years of pursuing the purchase, Matt Gerding and Scott Leslie � of the Note-esque Majestic Theatre in Madison, Wis. � have finalized a deal with King to buy his iconic Columbia club on Ninth Street along with sister venue Mojo�s.

Thus ends a storied run for King, just shy of the 34th birthday for The Blue Note � which has been at its current location since 1990, when King moved it from Business Loop 70, taking over the Varsity Theater building at 17 N. Ninth St.

King said he has been thinking about selling for several years.

�Six years ago, I seriously considered some of the offers,� including one from Gerding and Leslie, �but I just wasn�t ready. I haven�t always wanted to admit it, but after my� heart-valve �surgery� in 2012, �there was a serious change in how I looked at everything. So, honestly, the timing is great.�

The 35-year-old Gerding � who grew up in Columbia and Kansas City and is a University of Missouri graduate and son of Columbia accountant Bob Gerding � and Leslie have run the Majestic since 2007. Similar historically to The Blue Note but with a smaller capacity � 600 � the club has blossomed into one of Madison�s finest, and the two have added to the mix Majestic Live, which handles booking not just at their club, but for many others in Madison and beyond. �Being that I�m from Columbia, I know the city pretty well, my whole family still lives there, there is a personal element to this for sure,� Gerding said.

Gerding, who is moving to Columbia next month, said though live music will always be the venues� bread and butter, he and Leslie have been able to come up with other programming to expand on that business model. At the Majestic, they host monthly retro-themed dance parties and a holiday �Mad Men� soiree. Gerding said they also plan to expand The Blue Note�s wedding business, something they have had success with in Madison.

�We�re creative with that type of programming, and we hope to bring those types of ideas down to Columbia,� he said.

Gerding and Leslie will not officially take over the venues until the sale closes, likely around the end of October, but the business partners will start booking shows immediately. They�ve already met with the staff at The Blue Note and Mojo�s, King said, and he expects a good relationship between the employees and new owners.

The deal also includes a minority ownership for Gerding and Leslie in Thumper Entertainment, which organizes the annual Roots N Blues N BBQ festival, King said.

A sale price wasn�t disclosed.