Hollywood tycoon in £4.5bn swoop on West End
Hollywood tycoon in £4.5bn swoop on West End
James WarringtonTue, August 11, 2026 at 4:06 PM UTC
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ATG Entertainment, the biggest theatre group in the West End, owns 10 London venues including the Lyceum Theatre on the Strand - Anastasia Yakovleva/iStock
Hollywood billionaire and power broker Ari Emanuel has struck a £4.5bn deal to buy some of the West End’s leading theatres.
Mari Group, an events company founded by Mr Emanuel, confirmed on Tuesday that it had agreed to acquire ATG Entertainment, the biggest theatre operator in London.
Its 10 London venues include the Lyceum on the Strand – home to long-running hit The Lion King – the nearby Savoy Theatre, which is staging Paddington The Musical, and the Apollo Victoria, home to Wicked.
Mari Group has bought ATG Entertainment, whose properties include the Apollo Theatre in Victoria, central London - Martin R Lee/iStock
ATG also owns seven theatres on New York’s Broadway, including the Lyric, which shows Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Its portfolio totals 70 venues in the UK, the US, Germany and Spain. It is also a major producer of stage shows and operates its own ticketing service.
Mr Emanuel, 65, is the chief executive of talent agency WME Group and one of the most influential businessmen in Hollywood. The “super agent” is known for representing some of the biggest names in film and music, with clients including Adele, Oprah Winfrey and Martin Scorsese.
He is also the chief executive of TKO, which owns the rights to UFC and WWE.
He launched Mari last year, with $2bn (£1.5bn) in backing from investors including private equity giant Apollo, RedBird Capital and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.
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Ari Emanuel, pictured with Sarah Staudinger, is one of the most influential businessmen in Hollywood - Stefano Rellandini/AFP via Getty Images
It has already acquired the Frieze art fair, the Miami and Madrid Open tennis tournaments and Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, as part of an aggressive acquisition drive in live events. It also bought ticketing app TodayTix last year after fending off a rival bid from ATG.
Mr Emanuel said: “I’ve spent my whole career in entertainment, and I started out in theatre. I’ve seen the industry reinvent itself many times, but live has only grown more powerful. Nothing connects great talent with audiences more directly.
“ATG has built one of the world’s great theatre businesses around that experience. This is a long-term bet on where live goes next.”
Mari pledged to preserve and modernise ATG’s portfolio of theatres while investing in improved audience experiences and new productions.
Previously known as the Ambassador Theatre Group, ATG was founded in 1994 by husband-and-wife team Sir Howard Panter and Dame Rosemary Squire. It is headquartered in Woking, Surrey, and will continue under its existing brand and leadership team.
Mari struck the deal with Providence Equity Partners, which bought the theatre group for £350m in 2013.
Andrew Tisdale, the vice chairman of Providence, said: “We’ve been proud to partner with ATG over the past 13 years as it has grown into one of the world’s leading live entertainment companies.”
Source: “AOL Money”
