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Steven Roth’s son inks $300M deal for majority stake in Jujamcyn theaters

Ambassador Theatre Group, Providence Equity acquired five-theater portfolio

From left: Ambassador Theatre Group CEO Mark Cornell, Jujamcyn Theaters president Jordan Roth and 302 West 45th Street (Getty, LinkedIn, Ambassador Theatre Group, Google Maps)
From left: Ambassador Theatre Group CEO Mark Cornell, Jujamcyn Theaters president Jordan Roth and 302 West 45th Street (Getty, LinkedIn, Ambassador Theatre Group, Google Maps)

A familiar last name in New York City real estate traded a majority stake in a portfolio that reads like a where’s where of Broadway theaters.

Jujamcyn Theaters — led by Vornado Realty Trust CEO Steven Roth’s son, Jordan — sold a 93 percent stake in five Broadway theaters in a deal that valued the portfolio at $308 million, according to property records reported by PincusCo. Roth and other individual leaders of Jujamcyn appear to be holding on to a 7 percent stake.

The incoming majority stake owners are United Kingdom-based Ambassador Theatre Group and Rhode Island-based Providence Equity Partners. The Ambassador venture and Jujamcyn previously said they would be combining operations, without further detail.

The portfolio includes the St. James Theatre, the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, the August Wilson Theatre, the Eugene O’Neill Theatre and the Walter Kerr Theatre. Jujamcyn also received a 7 percent stake in two Broadway theaters and one Brooklyn theater owned by Ambassador, valued at a combined $98 million.

The stake deal didn’t close until last month and wasn’t recorded until this week, months after it was reported by the New York Times. The outlet previously said Roth would become creative director and the largest individual shareholder of the combined company. For Jujamcyn, the combination allowed the company to have $203 million in debt paid down.

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The five theaters span a combined 174,000 square feet and hold an additional 369,000 square feet in air rights. Roth acquired a majority stake in the theaters in 2012.

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Among the big three Broadway landlords, Jujamcyn has been the smallest and will remain so, trailing behind the Shubert Organization and Nederlander Organization. Despite its size, Jujamcyn has hosted its share of notable productions, including “The Book of Mormon” and “Hadestown.”

Ambassador is a much larger company, at least in terms of volume of theaters. Prior to the deal, the firm owned 58 theaters across the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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BroadwayNYC TheatersSteven Roth