TEG’s Geoff Jones and (below) Hugh Jackman. Courtesy of TEG.
Change, Growth and Innovation Geoff Jones, Chief Executive of entertainment and ticketing leader, TEG, explains the business’ future growth plans
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mong significant changes in the region’s entertainment industry, the acquisition of leading live entertainment and ticketing platform TEG by multinational technology investment firm Silver Lake Partners has been one of the most significant. With TEG’s former owner, pan-Asian private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners, having long been rumoured to be looking to sell the ticketing and live entertainment business, which includes the Ticketek ticketing agency, the acquisition by Silver Lake Partners - a major name in global private equity with an emphasis on technology having more than $US43 billion in assets under management - gives the US-fund its first presence in Australia and a significant toehold in Asia.
18 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 136 2019
With over 40 years of experience in ticketing and live entertainment, TEG operates as the exclusive ticketing provider for over 135 venue and promoter clients and delivers 30 million tickets annually for over 30,000 events spanning live sports, concerts, theatre, festivals, and exhibitions across more than 13 countries. Its integrated live entertainment platform combines ticketing and event promotion, venue management, data analytics and marketing services while TEG promotes over 100 diverse events annually. Its TEG Live and TEG Dainty divisions have promoted some of the world’s biggest names in live sports and entertainment including Hugh Jackman, Guns N’ Roses, Eminem, Katy Perry, Cirque du Soleil, Jerry Seinfeld, the Brazil national football team, and the breakthrough Australian debut of Intel Extreme Masters esports. Silver Lake Partners’ interests in sport and entertainment include stakes in China’s Alibaba; Learfield-IMG (the leading US collegiate sports rights marketing group); Fanatics (an online sports team merchandising platform); AMC (the largest global cinema chain); Endeavor (which provides athlete representation); and Oak View Group (the venue operator and North American arena alliance). It also has stakes in New York’s Madison Square Garden and UFC. The announcement of Silver Lake Partners’ acquisition, believed to be for around $1.3 billion, also noted that TEG’s senior management team, led by Chief Executive Geoff Jones, will continue to lead the company and remain meaningful equity partners in the new ownership structure.
