Today the Ambassador Theatre Group confirmed that they have bought out the Live Nation theatre group in a buyout that totalled up to about £90m, making Ambassador the largest theatre operator in Britain.
In June of 2009 it was first leaked to the press that Live Nation would be placing their empire on sale, including 17 prominent theatres throughout the UK. Among some of the most notable are the Bristol Hippodrome, the Edinburgh Playhouse, Liverpool Empire, and the Manchester Palace Theatre.
In the West End, theatres that are included in the Live Nation buyout include the Apollo Victoria which is home to Wicked and the Lyceum theatre where the Lion King is playing.
In total, now 11,000 seats in the West End theatre distract belong to ATG with another 38,000 seats owned throughout the rest of the UK. Throughout the UK, ATG now owns a total of 37 theatres.
The new ranking system of theatre operators sees HQ Theatre in the runner up position to first placed Ambassador.
Live Nation decided to sell its theatre operations to allow the company to focus on creating their live music concert series.
