A long-suspected game of musical chairs for the ownership of Frieze, the group that includes an influential London-based magazine and several art fairs around the world, has come to an end.
Endeavor Group Holdings, the parent company of the Hollywood talent agency, has sold it to a new company formed by Ari Emanuel, Endeavor’s former CEO. The deal is expected to close by the third quarter of this year, and the company was valued at almost $200 million, according to the Financial Times. (The terms of the deal were not officially disclosed. As of January, Emanuel had reportedly already raised $100 million toward the purchase.)
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According to a release, Frieze’s current leadership, including CEO Simon Fox, will stay in place in the new company.
Endeavor was fully taken private by its owner, the private equity firm Silver Lake, in March. It first began exploring the sale last October. At the time and through last month, the deal was reported to also include two tennis tournaments, Miami Open and Madrid Open. With those two tournaments, the deal was valued at more than $1 billion in April, according to Bloomberg.
This purchase was facilitated by a consortium of investors that includes Apollo Global Management and RedBird Capital Partner. Both tournaments are not included in this deal, though they are reportedly still looking to acquire them from Endeavor.
Under Emanuel’s leadership, Endeavor first acquired a stake in Frieze in 2016. At the time the fair already operated two fairs in London and one in New York. Since that new ownership model, it launched two new fairs, in Los Angeles (in 2019) and Seoul (2022). Then, in 2023, it made headlines when it acquired two struggling US fairs, Expo Chicago and the Armory Show in New York.
The news comes during an active moment for Frieze. The company has just closed the 12th edition of Expo Chicago on Sunday. Next Wednesday, the company will open Frieze New York at the Shed. That fair is one of several that will run concurrently across the city.
In a statement, Emanuel said, “Frieze has always been a source of inspiration for me—both professionally and personally. Having worked with the team for nearly a decade, I’ve seen firsthand the strength of their community and the ambition driving their mission to expand the reach and understanding of contemporary art. Frieze is well positioned for further growth and represents a strategic cornerstone in our new global events platform.”
