This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Business News Deals Live Business
AEG buys into Australian promoter Frontier
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 12 April 2019
Live giant AEG yesterday announced a “strategic joint venture” with Australian tour promoter Frontier Touring, which will see the two companies “unify their operations” in the latter’s home market.
AEG and Frontier – which is part of Michael Gudinski’s wider music business the Mushroom Group – have collaborated on an assortment of tours in Australia and New Zealand over the last decade. The new deal will expand that partnership, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that it also involves AEG taking a 50% stake in the Frontier business.
Gudinski’s touring company already has partnerships with two other Australian promoters, Illusive Presents and Chugg Entertainment, the latter of which was only announced last month. Both will continue under the new alliance with AEG. The deal does not involve any of the other companies that form the Mushroom Group, although Frontier will remain within that grouping despite having a new co-owner.
Confirming all of this yesterday, Gudinski said that the deal wouldn’t affect Frontier’s independent spirit. He told reporters: “Frontier Touring has been fiercely independent since its inception in 1979 and there is no doubt that we’ve batted well above the average on a global level in recent years. AEG Presents has had a successful track record of partnering with independent promoters and allowing them to keep their entrepreneurial roots while also supporting their growth”.
“This next step”, he went on, “is about ensuring that Frontier, AEG and our joint venture partners Illusive Presents and Chugg Entertainment raise the bar in the Australasian live market higher than ever before”.
Speaking for AEG Presents, its chief Jay Marciano added: “Frontier Touring and AEG Presents share a passion and commitment to delivering the best music experiences to artists and fans alike. Michael has built an incredibly respected organisation with a proven track record of success and we are pleased that he chose to partner with us. We look forward to working closely with him and his talented team to further grow the Frontier Touring brand”.
