West End and international theatre owner Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) has formerly taken ownership of five Broadway theatres owned by Jujamcyn Theaters.
The merger between ATG and Jujamcyn was first announced in February, and the deal finally went through last month, and was recorded last week.
ATG and Providence Equity now own five prestigious Broadway theatres: the St James Theatre, Al Hirschfeld Theatre, August Wilson Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theatre and the Walter Kerr Theatre.
Jujamcyn Theaters, which is led by Jordan Roth, sold a 93 percent stake in their five Broadway theatres in a deal that valued the portfolio at $308.4 million (according to PincusCo).
Jujamcyn also received a 7% stake in two Broadway theatres – the Lyric and the Hudson, and one Brooklyn theatre – the Kings Theatre, valued at a combined $98 million.
ATG already owns the Lyric Theatre on Broadway – currently home to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and the Hudson Theatre, which recently hosted Jamie Lloyd’s production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House starring Jessica Chastain. Lloyd has a deal with ATG’s in-house productions arm – ATG Productions – for his The Jamie Lloyd Company.
Next up at the Hudson is the acclaimed production of Sondheim’s Merilly We Roll Along, directed by Maria Friedman and produced by her sister Sonia Friedman, the big West End and Broadway producer who also has a deal with ATG for her Sonia Friedman Productions.
The portfolio of five theatres includes the August Wilson Theatre, where Lea Michele is currently starring as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl produced by Sonia Friedman, which runs until 3 September 2023, and where ATG’s London production of Cabaret directed by Rebecca Frecknall will transfer to in Spring 2024, in a revamped Kit Kat Club space.
They also own the Eugene O’Neill Theater, home of The Book of Mormon on Broadway since 2011; the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, where Moulin Rouge! The Musical is playing; the Walter Kerr Theatre, currently the venue for musical Hadestown; and the St. James Theatre, where new Kander & Ebb and Lin-Manuel Miranda musical New York, New York produced by Sonia Friedman opened in April, but has posted early closing notices and will finish up on 30 July 2023.
ATG currently own and operate 63 venues in the UK, US and Germany, including major West End playhouses the Harold Pinter Theatre and the Duke of York’s Theatre; and long-running musicals venues the Piccadilly Theatre (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), the Lyceum Theatre, (Disney’s The Lion King), the Playhouse Theatre – aka The Kit Kat Club (Cabaret), and the Apollo Victoria Theatre (Wicked); and the Phoenix Theatre, soon to host Stranger Things: The First Shadow,
Existing ATG CEO Mark Cornell will become CEO of the merged group and Jujamcyn’s President Jordan Roth will get a seat on the board as the largest individual shareholder of the combined group, and also serve as creative director.
Private Equity firm Providence Equity Partners will be the largest institutional shareholder of the new entity – as they are currently the largest shareholder of ATG’s parent company International Entertainment Holdings Limited.
In January 2023, ATG took the Number 2 spot in The Stage’s annual Stage 100 UK theatre power list, with CEO Mark Cornell, head of programming Michael Lynas and in-house producer Adam Speers celebrated for navigating the perils of Covid and managing to remain innovative and creative.
