Blackstone, one of the world’s biggest private equity firms, is in advanced talks to buy a stake in Ambassador Theater Group (ATG), owner of some of the most famous theaters in west end London.
Sky News understands that Blackstone, which manages more than $1 billion (£790 billion) in assets, is close to acquiring a minority stake in the owner of the Duke of York’s and Lyceum theatres.
If completed, it will be a significant corporate transaction for a company that has staged productions of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hamilton and The Book of Mormon.
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City sources said Blackstone was expected to acquire the stake from TEG, an Australian live entertainment and ticketing company that bought ATG during the pandemic.
One of them added that the deal would involve a stake of between 10% and 15% changing hands.
ATG has been majority-owned by Providence Equity Partners since 2013, making it a long period of ownership by private equity industry standards.
Providence considered pursuing a sale process several years ago but was stymied by the pandemic, which forced the closure of theaters and other live entertainment venues for months during a succession of lockdowns.
ATG operates dozens of theaters in the UK, with other prominent venues including the Harold Pinter Theatre, as well as the Empire in Liverpool and the Lyric and Hudson on Manhattan’s Broadway.
In total, it owns about 60 theaters, having reached a deal in 2021 to buy the Golden Gate Theater and the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco, and the Fisher Theater in Detroit – both key cities for touring Broadway productions.
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Last year, it announced that it was combining its US operations with Jujamcyn Theaters to strengthen its position in that market.
The company competes with rivals such as Lord Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group and billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik, owner of the Theater Royal Haymarket.
ATG’s assessment of the Blackstone deal was unclear this weekend.
Providence acquired the company for £350 million more than a decade ago.
In 2022, it was reported to be trying to refinance around £1.2 billion of debt.
ATG has a workforce of more than 4,000 full-time equivalent employees, and its venues have played host to some of the world’s most successful plays and musicals, including The Lion King, Les Misérables and Wicked.
The company was founded in the 1990s by husband and wife team Sir Howard Panter and Dame Rosemary Squire, who later created a rival theater group.
It is now run by Ted Stimpson, a leisure industry veteran who replaced Mark Cornell last year.
A new ATG sale process is unlikely to take place for some time.
Accounts from International Entertainment Holdings, ATG’s parent company, show it made a record operating profit in the year ending March 25, 2023, of £120.5 million.
He said advance ticket sales were exceeding pre-COVID levels.
Blackstone and Providence declined to comment.
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