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AEG Will Not Be Sold After All, Tim Leiweke Leaving Company
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By Billboard Staff | March 14, 2013 12:41 PM EDT


Anschutz Entertainment Group owner Phillip Anschutz has taken the company off of the market and president/CEO Tim Leiweke will leave the company, according to a statement released today. Leiweke will be replaced in his roles by CFO Dan Beckerman. Anschutz will take on a more active role in the company.

“From the very beginning of the sales process, we have made it clear to our employees and partners throughout the world that unless the right buyer came forward with a transaction on acceptable terms we would not sell the company,” Anschutz said in the statement.
 
Leiweke is leaving by mutual consent, the statement continued. “We appreciate the role Tim has played in the development of AEG, and thank him for the many contributions he has made to the company,” Anschutz said.

Ted Fikre, who joined the Company in 1997, will become Vice Chairman of the Company and continue as AEG’s Chief Legal and Development Officer, as well as assume responsibility for AEG’s Governmental and Media Relations, the statement continues. Jay Marciano, currently President and Chief Executive Officer of AEG Europe, will relocate from London to Los Angeles to assume the role of Chief Operating Officer. Todd Goldstein, who has been with the Company since 2001, recently was elevated to Chief Revenue Officer and will continue in that role. Steven Cohen, Executive Vice President of the Anschutz Company, will serve as AEG’s Chief Strategic Officer while retaining his role at AEG’s parent company. Beckerman, Fikre, Marciano, Goldstein and Cohen, together with Anschutz, will constitute AEG’s Office of the Chairman.
 
“From the very beginning of the sales process, we have made it clear to our employees and partners throughout the world that unless the right buyer came forward with a transaction on acceptable terms we would not sell the Company” said Anschutz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Anschutz Company. “From the very first days of AEG, my vision has been to tie together world class real estate development structured around entertainment venues with premium sports and live entertainment content. In recent years we have developed related businesses to further promote and enhance the performance of AEG’s facilities for the benefit of our partners, including our sponsors, artists, consumers and the communities in which we operate. The Company’s operations will continue to be run by AEG’s experienced senior executive team, most of whom have been with AEG for over a decade. We will continue to set the standards in the industries in which AEG operates, bringing our unique vision and development model to entertainment locations throughout the world.”
 
“Phil’s active reengagement in the operations of the Company has brought a renewed spirit and passion to the management team’s focus on AEG’s next steps” Beckerman said in the statement. “The Company has a number of interesting business opportunities, and the expertise of the management team and our 26,000 employees around the world will allow us to select those prospects that best enhance the Company’s performance. Priority projects going forward include the development of Farmers Field adjacent to our L.A. Live campus and the pursuit of our plan to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles, our recently announced initiative to collaborate with MGM to build a new arena in Las Vegas, the acquisition of ownership stakes and the associated refurbishment of several major global arenas in Europe and our ongoing investment in AXS.com, our ticketing and e-commerce platform, as we expand its capabilities for the benefit of our venues, partners, performers and consumer end-users.”
 
A source close to the situation told Billboard that bidders did not reach the desired number of approximately $8 billion, although a group headed by the Qatar Sovereign Fund with Colony Capital came closest at $6 billion, according to a source.
 
Sources told Billboard in late January that the final three bidders on AEG were a group made up of Ron Burkle with Patrick Soon-Shiong and Goldman Sachs; Guggenheim Partners; and Colony Capital and Qatar Sovereign Fund, and that a deal could be done as soon as the end of March.

But another source at that time also familiar with the process said discounted that information and said the bidders had not partnered up at that point.
 
AEG has been on the block since September,  with Blackstone Group directing a sale process that Billboard reported could be high as $8 billion. In a January interview with Billboard.biz, Leiweke declined to mention who the serious bidders were, but did indicate that the field has narrowed. 
 
“We’re getting down to the final straws here,” he said, adding, “the kind of people and companies interested are very good, and they share our vision for the future of the company. Now it’s just trying to get [owner] Mr. [Phillip] Anschutz and [potential buyers] together on the right deal.”
 
In a comment that now seems prescient, Leiweke said, "It will all work out one way or another, and if it’s not meant to be, I’m fairly certain I will be able to keep myself busy.”
 
The “no sale" leaves intact the world’s biggest sports/entertainment/venue firm, and presumably its leadership in Leiweke, who recently re-upped key staff including Randy Phillips, president/CEO of AEG Live, AEG's live entertainment arm and the world's second-largest promoter.

AEG Live is in the early stages of a banner year, with tours -- by box office leaders like Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, Kenny Chesney and others either on tap or already under way -- and its festival business, with such events as Jazzfest, Coachella and StageCoach, which rank among the leaders in the most robust sector of the live music business.


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Andrea


Hmm.  A shake-up at AEG right before the trial.  I wonder if there are rumblings in the business entertainment world about an impending demise of the company... because it would seem nobody would touch them with a ten foot pole right now.


Or this is part of a carefully and cleverly crafted script.   
Last Edit: March 14, 2013, 09:03:42 PM by Andrea
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MJonmind

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Hmm.  A shake-up at AEG right before the trial.  I wonder if there are rumblings in the business entertainment world about an impending demise of the company... because it would seem nobody would touch them with a ten foot pole right now.


Or this is part of a carefully and cleverly crafted script.
:icon_lol: Looks like they're bracing themselves; Anschutz didn't think Leiweke competent and will be more active.
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sweetsunsetwithMJ

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Are they afraid of having to pay the 40 million $ to Katherine and they want to sell the company before this happens??
Last Edit: March 16, 2013, 11:21:51 AM by sweetsunsetwithMJ
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I WANNA BE WHERE YOU ARE!!

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blankie

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Are they afraid of having to pay the 40 million $ to Katherine and they want to sell the company before this happens??

May be....  :icon_e_confused: :icon_rolleyes: :icon_question:
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everlastinglove_MJ

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Or this is part of a carefully and cleverly crafted script.

I tend to believe that too
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everlastinglove_MJ

Quote
Philip Anschutz says AEG sale became 'a very noisy process'


The founder of AEG discusses his decision to pull the sports and entertainment conglomerate off the market.

March 14, 2013|By Marla Dickerson and Mike James, Los Angeles Times


In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, AEG founder Philip Anschutz discussed his decision to pull his sports and entertainment conglomerate off the market, as well as Tim Leiweke's impending departure from the company. This is an edited transcript:

Question: Tim Leiweke was the public face of AEG in Los Angeles. It's a surprise to see him leaving so abruptly. What happened?
Answer: I think he made his decision based on the fact that I had terminated the process for the sale, combined with the opportunities that he's looking at elsewhere as well. So he's done what he's set out to do, I think. Going forward, the company is going to be focused on a combination of operating results as well as new growth opportunities. So I think probably all those things combined. And by the way, I might add he's had a pretty good run here.

Q. Why did you terminate the sale of AEG? A number of big names had been rumored to be interested. Did you not like the prices you were getting?

A. This became a very noisy process. Lots of people, lots of talking heads, lots of unnamed experts and lots of opinions. Many things. I might add, many of them were wrong but that didn't seem to dampen their enthusiasm. So that was a contributing factor. It just got too noisy. I didn't like the process.

Second thing: We were very clear from the start. Unless there was the right buyer, the right set of terms and the right price, we might not sell. Oh, and by the way, we might not sell at all.... We haven't been misleading.

Q. You said you'll be taking a more active role in the company. Why?

A. All I've ever done in my life is work. I'm kind of excited about reengaging, to be perfectly clear with you. This is a pretty nice company.

Q. Does this make it more or less likely that L.A. will get a football team?

A. I think it makes it more likely. One: We're ready to push dirt. Two: You have the best location in the world. Three: The NFL has said they want to come to California. I would guess it would make common sense for them to do so. Four: You've got an owner, a potential owner, who's got the capital to actually build one. I'm reengaged. And if there's a profitable investment to be made, I'm up for that. That's what I do for a living.

We've done everything we can to improve the odds … [but] we're not going to make football happen all by ourselves. The NFL is a player here, they're not just an observer. They've got to decide what they want to do. AEG has got to own all the venue. We're flexible. We're open for business to do a deal. This isn't rocket science. It's a matter of the parties sitting down and talking. There's no preset formula. But we won't be pushed into a deal.

It seemed like to me that a lot of the noise happened to be around football. That, to me, is the tail wagging the dog. The dog is AEG. That's multiples more valuable than a football team.

What is not, I think, commonly known, perhaps, or at least commonly acknowledged, is the state has stepped up and done their part here. The city has stepped up, the mayor, City Council, they've stepped up and done their part. But what's not commonly known is AEG is the one that spent all the money. We've spent $45 million. Written checks for $45 million, plus another $5 [million] to $10 million of indirects on this project. I'm not in the practice commonly of writing checks just for the fun of writing them. That's a lot of money to be spent on this project. You do that because you see a business opportunity.


The NFL should come to L.A. They should come to this site. And ultimately it's my view that they will. But, as I've said, a couple of things need to happen. I am optimistic, if that helps you, that the NFL is coming to the city. Not only am I optimistic, but I'm willing to back it with considerable money to make it a reality.

Q. How recently have you spoken to the NFL?

A. Eight months or more. I'm guessing the NFL has been sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the [AEG sale] process to play itself out one way or another.

Q. Any discussions with the [St. Louis] Rams?

A. Not about football.

Q. Is there any way you see building a stadium and bringing an NFL team without your being a significant owner?

A. [L.A. Live is] a big financial success. So I sit back and look at that and say, you know, there is some risk in plunking down a football stadium in the middle of that. There you have an asset that's working extremely well and you put a football stadium in the middle of it. Will that hurt our Kings attendance? Will it impact our hotel attendance? Will it impact our restaurants? We need to have an investment in the arena and the football team if they're going to be occupying it in the middle of our campus.



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