CVC sells Stage Entertainment to trade

Advance Publications has wholly acquired the Dutch business, buying both CVC's 60% and Joop van den Ende's 40% stake.

According to press reports on the auction process in February, the business was being valued at around €1bn.

CVC was not available for comment at the time of publication.

Founded in 1922, Advance Publications is a family-owned company that operates and invests in a broad range of media, communications and technology businesses.

Employing around 12,000 people in a dozen countries, some of its European interests include Condé Nast brands such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ and Wired.

Previous funding 
CVC bought a 60% stake in Stage Entertainment at an enterprise value between €350-400m, according to press reports at the time, via its CVC Capital Partners VI vehicle.

Under CVC's ownership, the business was aiming to double its current audience levels to reach 20 million. Stage was also planning to expand into new markets and bolster its activity in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the UK, Russia and the US, where it was already present. At the time, the business operated 20 theatres and employed 3,500 staff.

Stage Entertainment's debt was refinanced in June 2017 to pay a dividend to shareholders, as well fees and expenses, according to Unquote sister publication Debtwire. Bookrunners Barclays, ABN Amro, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, ING and Morgan Stanley jointly provided a €335m term loan B at an original issue discount of 99.75, with seven years maturity.

Company
Stage Entertainment was founded in 1998 following Joop van de Ende's acquisition of Endemol's live entertainment business.

The company owns 20 theatres, based in the Netherlands, the UK, France, Germany and Italy, and produces musicals including the Lion King, Mamma Mia! and Les Misérables. Headquartered in Amsterdam, Stage Entertainment generated revenues of around €479m, and posted annual EBITDA of €88m in July 2016.

People              
Advance Publications – Steven Newhouse (co-president).
CVC Capital Partners – Ivo Lurvink (partner).
Stage Entertainment – Joop van den Ende (founder).

Advisers
Company – Citi (corporate finance); CMS (legal); EY (financial due diligence).  
Equity – Goldman Sachs (corporate finance); De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek (legal); Alvarez & Marsal (commercial due diligence); KPMG/Meijburg (financial due diligence); ABN Amro (debt advisory).

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