Ariel Emanuel, through his newly formed company now known as Mari, has completed the acquisition of Frieze, which includes its eponymous publication, seven art fairs around the world, and two exhibition spaces.
The purchase also included several tennis tournaments, such as the Miami Open and Madrid Open, as well as a majority stake in collectors’ auction house Barrett-Jackson.
The news comes just a week before the opening of Frieze London and Frieze Masters in the British capital and in an uncertain art market.
“Live events and experiences have never been more powerful,” Emanuel said in a statement. “As people increasingly value experiences over things—and as hybrid jobs and artificial intelligence give us more time to enjoy them—sports, arts, lifestyle and entertainment are becoming increasingly important. At Marie, we are building on frieze’s global impact and success in Madrid and Miami, and to create new ways for audiences to unite and share their moves.”
Frieze was sold by its previous owner, Endeavor Group Holdings, before Emanuel took over as CEO, which was privately announced earlier this year by Silver Lake Management. It was first announced in May this year. Terms of the sale have not been officially disclosed, but the company was reportedly valued at $200 million; Goldman Sachs & Co. and Liontree Advisors LLC served as financial advisors to Mari. (Finalization of the acquisition has been slightly delayed as it was originally supposed to close by the end of the third quarter.)
according to BloombergNow the executive chairman of WME, Endeavor’s successor company, Emanuel raised $2 billion in equity to support Marie. Mari listed 20 investors backing the newly formed company in the offering. These include Apollo, Redbird Capital Partners and Qatar Investment Authority, as well as doctors and Los Angeles Times Owners Patrick Soon Shiong and Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, were honored with a $100,000 environmental and arts award at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
As part of the news, Mary also announced several aspects of the new company’s organizational structure. Emanuel will lead the company alongside Mark Shapiro, president of WME and its parent company TKO Holdings; Shapiro is a major investor in Mari and will serve on the company’s board of directors. (The company’s name comes from combining the initials of Mark and Ariel.)
Two former Endeavor vice presidents will also join: Matt Cohn as managing partner and Ben Enowitz as CFO. The company said in the release that all events will continue under their current leadership; on the trim side, that means Simon Fox will continue as CEO. (The Chicago fair, which Frieze acquired in 2023, currently has no directors.)
Apollo partner Rob Givone said in a statement: “We are excited to be a key partner to Ariel Emanuel, Mark Shapiro and their team as they build a portfolio of experiential assets in the sports and live events industry, and we are excited to be with Mari across events and experiences.”
