Ari Emanuel buys West End and Broadway theatre group ATG for £4.5bn
Deal by Hollywood mogul’s new venture Mari represents a big bet on continued demand for live events
Hollywood mogul Ari Emanuel has struck a roughly £4.5bn deal to buy the theatre group behind West End venues including the Lyceum and the Savoy in a major bet that strong demand for live events is here to stay.
The acquisition of ATG Entertainment is the largest to date by Emanuel’s Mari Group, which was launched last year with $2bn of equity financing from investors including Apollo, RedBird Capital and the Qatar Investment Authority.
Mari said in a statement on Tuesday that its acquisition of ATG reflected its conviction in “the growing power of live experience and the passionate audiences it brings together”. The company has agreed to pay about £4.5bn for ATG, according to two people familiar with the terms, which were not publicly disclosed.
Talks over a deal between Mari and ATG’s owner Providence Equity were first reported by the FT in June.
ATG’s portfolio includes Broadway venues including the Walter Kerr Theatre and the Lyric Theatre, which is showing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Since buying ATG for £350mn in 2013, Providence has expanded the company from 40 to 70 venues across the UK, the US and Europe through a series of acquisitions.
A sale will mark one of the private equity firm’s most successful exits. Providence pumped in more than £50mn into ATG to help the business weather enforced closures during the pandemic.
ATG will add to Mari’s growing portfolio, which also includes the Frieze Festival, the Miami Open tennis tournament and Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.
Emanuel’s other roles include chairing talent agency WME Group, which represents A-listers including Oprah Winfrey and Martin Scorsese, and leading sports marketing company IMG and TKO Group, which owns mixed martial arts series Ultimate Fighting Championship and WWE.
The swoop on ATG comes off the back of several years of strong demand for live event tickets following the Covid-19 pandemic. A study by Mastercard earlier this year found 88 per cent of Britons redirect spending towards live experiences, with many saying attending such events was important to balance the amount of time they spent online.
Last year, Emanuel told the FT that he believed as technology made people more productive they would have more time and money “to go out and do stuff”.
Emanuel said in a statement on Tuesday: “I started out in the theater. I’ve seen the industry reinvent itself many times, but live has only grown more powerful . . . This is a long-term bet on where live goes next.”
ATG chief executive Melanie Smith said Mari was the “right home” for the business and that it understood “our theatres, the people behind them and the relationships we have built with producers, artists and audiences”.
The deal is subject to regulatory approvals.