TEG confirms Silver Lake acquisition

Confirming rumours that surfaced last week, private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners announced this morning (4 October) Australian time it has acquired Asia-Pacific live entertainment giant TEG.

Silicon Valley-based Silver Lake, which also holds stakes in Madison Square Garden Company, Oak View Group and WME/UFC parent company Endeavor, acquires TEG from Affinity Equity Partners, another investment firm, which bought TEG in 2015.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, though reports in the Australian financial press value the deal at around A$1 billion (US$675 million).

Sydney-based TEG’s live entertainment platform combines ticketing and event promotion, venue management, data analytics and marketing services. The company organises over 100 events annually through TEG Live and TEG Dainty, which have promoted shows including Hugh Jackman, Guns N’ Roses, Eminem, Katy Perry, Cirque du Soleil, Jerry Seinfeld and the Australian debut of Intel Extreme Masters esports.

The company is the parent of one of Australia’s “big two” ticket sellers, Ticketek, which sells 30m tickets annually, and also made moves into the European market earlier this year, acquiring UK-based promoter the MJR Group.

“The team at Affinity have been great partners for us over the last four years and have helped us to continue to scale our business,” says TEG chief executive Geoff Jones, commenting on the buy-out. “We are confident that Silver Lake is the right partner for the next stage of the company’s growth.

“High-quality live sports and entertainment content is more sought after now than ever, and represents a massive global addressable market”

“Silver Lake brings us deep technology expertise as well as important global entertainment content and live events expertise and relationships which will help us to accelerate the growth of our platform globally.”

Adds Silver Lake managing director Stephen Evans: “High-quality live sports and entertainment content is more sought after now than ever and represents a massive global addressable market for the company.  We believe TEG’s innovative and integrated ticketing, content, digital marketing and analytics platform is well positioned to continue to benefit from increasing consumer demand worldwide.

“We’re excited to partner with Geoff and the entire TEG team and invest further to leverage TEG’s platform and accelerate the company’s growth, both in Asia Pacific and globally.”

The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to conditions including approval by the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board.

Read IQ’s recent exclusive interview with Jones (pictured), in which he discusses TEG’s plans for European growth, here.

‘Our main focus is the UK and Europe’: TEG boss talks MJR buy

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