A huge swathe of London’s theatreland changed hands today as a private equity buyer snapped up the company behind venues including Lyceum, Duke of York’s and Apollo Victoria theatres.
Providence Equity Partners has bought a majority stake in the Ambassador Theatre Group - run by Sir Howard Panter and his wife Rosemary Squire - in a deal understood to be worth £460 million.
Ambassador, which has 40 venues in total and sells more than 10 million tickets a year, has been hunting for a bigger partner to help fund an international expansion.
Its current and recent co-productions include Macbeth starring James McAvoy, The Hothouse starring Simon Russell Beale and John Simm and the The Pride starring Hayley Atwell and Mathew Horne. Sir Howard said: “This new partnership cements the foundations for the company’s planned future growth.”
