Akin and Kirkland take lead roles on blockbuster £4.5bn theatre group deal

Akin and Kirkland & Ellis have landed lead roles on the reported £4.5 billion sale of ATG Entertainment to a live events group founded by Hollywood power broker Ari Emanuel.

Akin is acting for buyer MARI, a live experiences company, while Kirkland is advising ATG and its private equity owner Providence.

Blockbuster exit

ATG operates 70 theatre venues across the UK, US, Germany and Spain, including seven Broadway theatres and ten in London's West End.

Its venues host roughly 17,000 performances and nearly 19 million attendees each year, with productions including The Lion King, Wicked and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Providence acquired a majority stake in ATG in 2013 in a deal valued at £350 million, with Weil acting for the PE firm and Travers Smith advising former owner Exponent.

Providence has since overseen a major international expansion of the business, while Blackstone acquired a minority stake in 2024.

Live events push

MARI was founded just last year by Emanuel, who also serves as CEO and executive chair of TKO Group, an American sports and entertainment company, and the parent company of talent agency WME Group.

The company has backing from investors including Apollo, RedBird Capital Partners and the Qatar Investment Authority.

Its portfolio already spans major tennis tournaments including the Miami Open and Madrid Open, London’s Hyde Park Winter Wonderland and ticketing business TodayTix Group.

Akin has advised MARI on several of its acquisitions since launching.

Advising

Kirkland acted for ATG and Providence, led by London private equity partners Aneeq Durrani and George Rawlinson, along with New York private equity partner Michael Weisser.

Akin acted for MARI, led by New York corporate partners Jonathan Pavlich and Stuart Leblang, and included private equity partners Angela Becker (London) and Eric Wexler (New York).