The Anschutz Company to Retain Ownership of AEG

DENVER & LOS ANGELES - Friday, March 15th 2013 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Anschutz Company announced today that it will retain ownership of Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc. and terminate the sales process for AEG.

Philip F. Anschutz, as Chairman of AEG, will resume a more active role in the Company, with a particular focus on the Company’s world-wide strategy and operations. Dan Beckerman will assume the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. Beckerman joined AEG over 15 years ago and previously served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer.

Tim Leiweke, who has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of AEG since 1996, will be leaving the Company by mutual agreement. “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. We wish him well in his new endeavors,” said Mr. Anschutz.

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. 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.

Mr. Beckerman, Mr. Fikre, Mr. Marciano, Mr. Goldstein and Mr. Cohen, together with Mr. 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 Mr. 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” noted Dan Beckerman. “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.”

About AEG:

AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment companies in the world with a network of over 120 owned, operated and programmed venues on five continents. AEG is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company. AEG owns or operates many of the world's preeminent entertainment venues such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), The O2 (London, UK), Mercedes-Benz Arena (Shanghai, China), Allphones Arena (Sydney, Australia), O2 World (Berlin, Germany), the Ericsson Globe Arena (Stockholm, Sweden), MasterCard Center (Beijing, China), Ulker Sports Arena (Istanbul, Turkey), BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, TX), Brisbane Entertainment Center (Brisbane, Australia), The Home Depot Center (Carson, CA), Best Buy Theater (Times Square, New York), Sprint Center, (Kansas City), Rose Garden Arena (Portland, OR), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN) and the O2 World Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany). Developed by AEG, L.A. LIVE is a 4 million square foot downtown Los Angeles sports, residential and entertainment district featuring Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE and Club Nokia, a 54-story, 1001-room convention "headquarters" destination anchored by The Ritz-Carlton & JW Marriott Hotel at L.A., the Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. LIVE and Wolfgang Puck’s flagship restaurant WP 24, along with entertainment, restaurant and office space. In addition to overseeing a privately held interest in the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA), assets of AEG Sports include franchises and properties such as the Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings (NHL), MLS Cup Champion L.A. Galaxy, the Berlin Eisbaren, Germany’s championship hockey team, the Amgen Tour of California cycling race and Zazzle Bay to Breakers foot race. AEG Live, the company's live-entertainment subsidiary, is the world's second largest concert promotion and touring company and is comprised of touring, festival, exhibition, broadcast, merchandise and special event divisions with fifteen regional offices. AEG Global Partnerships, a subsidiary responsible for worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships, naming rights and other strategic partnerships, and AEG Merchandising, a multi-faceted merchandising company, are also core business units of AEG. AXS.com is AEG’s ticketing and e-commerce subsidiary, the first phase of AEG’s new entertainment platform that will be the company's primary consumer brand and will also feature mobile services as well as video content services. For additional information, visit www.AEGworldwide.com.

Dan Beckerman, President and Chief Executive Officer, first joined AEG in 1997 as Chief Financial Officer of the Los Angeles Kings and, as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of AEG, has played a key role in all phases of AEG’s growth. Mr. Beckerman previously served as Vice President, Finance for the Los Angeles Clippers and prior to that was a senior accountant at Arthur Anderson. Mr. Beckerman received his M.B.A. in Finance from the Anderson School at UCLA and his Bachelor’s Degree in economics with honors from UCLA.

Ted Fikre, the Company’s Vice Chairman and Chief Legal and Development Officer, has had a leading role in all of AEG’s major strategic and financial transactions since joining the Company over 15 years ago. Prior to joining AEG, Mr. Fikre was an attorney with the law firm Latham & Watkins. Mr. Fikre graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University with a degree in economics and received his law degree with distinction from Stanford University Law School.

Jay Marciano was the President and Chief Executive Officer of AEG Europe prior to assuming the role of Chief Operating Officer of AEG. Mr. Marciano previously served for six years as President of MSG Entertainment, part of the Madison Square Garden Company, where he oversaw bookings and productions at key venues including Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, the Beacon Theatre and the Chicago Theatre. Before going to MSG Mr. Marciano was Chief Strategy Officer of AEG Live, AEG’s live entertainment subsidiary. Prior to first coming to AEG, Mr. Marciano was President and CEO of Universal Concerts. Mr. Marciano received his Bachelor’s degree in social psychology from Harvard College and an MBA from The Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

Todd Goldstein, AEG’s Chief Revenue Officer, has initiated many of the Company’s most comprehensive naming rights and sponsorship arrangements and is responsible for AEG’s key revenue initiatives worldwide. Mr. Goldstein also oversees management of The Ritz-Carlton & JW Marriott Hotel at L.A. LIVE and the sales of the Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. LIVE. Mr. Goldstein received both his Bachelor’s degree in communications and his MBA from the University of Colorado.

Contacts

Media:

Kekst and Company

Robert Siegfried / Lyndsey Estin

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aeg@kekst.com