American entertainment company AEG has taken a chunk of Australian operation Ogden IFC, the Brisbane based company that runs Acer Arena in Sydney and the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
AEG operates the Staples Center and the new Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, the Nokia Theatre in Times Square, as well as the O2 Stadium in London where Led Zeppelin have just played.The new company is a joint venture which will be known as AEG Ogden. Collectively, the company now operates 65 venues around the world.
The announcement was made today by Ogden IFC Chairman & CEO Harvey Lister and President & CEO of AEG, Timothy J. Leiweke.
In a statement, Harvey Lister said "We have also admired the emergence of AEG into one of the world's sports and entertainment heavyweights. Both AEG and Ogden operate under strong commercial models and both have taken a strikingly similar partnership approach in relation to working with various Government entities as well as private sector venue developers. That's where the business models of both companies in the delivery of successful operating venues differ from those of our competitors."
He also commented that Ogden IFC had been active in the Pacific region for the last 20 years and has contributed significantly to the culture with the development of architectural masterpieces.
AEG Live is one of the world's leading concert promotion and touring companies having promoted over 3,500 events in 2007. It is overseeing the development of L.A. Live, a 4 million square foot / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential & entertainment district featuring Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, a 7,100-seat state-of-the-art live theatre which opened this October, a 54-story, 1001-room convention center "headquarters" hotel, Club Nokia at L.A. Live, a 2,400 capacity live music venue, a 14-screen Regal Cineplex, "broadcast" facilities for ESPN, along with entertainment, restaurant, residential and office space and additional arenas, O2 World, on a 45-acre site in the heart of Berlin, Citizen's Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California and in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ogden IFC has 690 full-time employees and 5,011 casual employees.
It has sold $188 million worth of tickets to 7.4 million patrons and parked more than 862,000 cars. It is the operator of the 85,000 seater Telstra Stadium in Sydney.
The company is also in negotiations for new developments for China, South East Asia, India and the Gulf region of the Middle East.
When completed, the companies will cater for 64% of the world's concert going population.
