Legends Completes ASM Global Acquisition

Legends has completed its acquisition of ASM Global for a reported $2.4-plus billion.

The acquisition had been announced in November, but was pending regulatory approvals. 

VenuesNow broke the news of the blockbuster merger in July of 2023.

The combination forms a company that now extends to operating 350 arenas, stadiums and convention centers around the globe. Facility management was among the final pieces missing from Legends, which is now coupled with food service, sponsorship sales, project management and market research.

AEG and Onyx, a Toronto-based private equity firm, and which both held equity in ASM Global, were to sell their interests, while ASM Global will continue to run its existing buildings and “in-development” AEG venues, according to a press release issued in November. Previous ASM Global equity holders Onex and AEG have sold their full ownership interests as part of the transaction, according to today’s announcement.

Sources said AEG will maintain a piece of ASM Global’s contract to run Allegiant Stadium, to prevent the Las Vegas Raiders, the primary tenant, from executing an escape clause triggered by a sale of the company. The clause would allow the NFL team to approve a transfer of Allegiant’s management to another firm.

ASM runs seven NFL stadiums, including the Caesars Superdome, which has completed a five-year, $560 million renovation that has modernized the 49-year-old building. Legends served as owner’s representative for the project.

Sources told VenuesNow in November that AEG has a deal with Legends to provide concerts and other content at venues operated by ASM Global.

Legends was founded in 2008 by NFL Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the Steinbrenner family, owner of the New York Yankees, as a concessions company. Over the past 15 years, it has expanded into selling sponsorships and naming rights, plus project management and market research after acquiring CSL International in 2011.

ASM Global will continue to operate under its name “for the time being,” according to the announcement of the acquisition’s completion.

Sixth Street is the majority investor in Legends in partnership with Yankees affiliate YGE Holdings Jones Concessions, a Jerry Jones family company.

Moelis & Company and BofA Securities were financial advisors to Legends and Ropes & Gray and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton provided Legends legal counsel. Financial advisers to ASM Global included Goldman Sachs and Jefferies. Latham & Watkins, Hogan Lovells, and Arnold & Porter served as the company’s legal counsel. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher served as legal counsel to YGE Holdings and Jones Concessions.

On its own, the Superdome was among the first public assembly venues to operate under the private management model when the state-owned facility opened in 1975. SMG held the contract for many years before merging with AEG Facilities in 2018.

On Friday, the day the announcement was made that the deal had been completed, it was business as usual for ASM Global executives, including Doug Thornton, executive vice president, who’s been at the Superdome since 1997, and Evan Holmes, the stadium’s general manager for the past two years after serving for 10 years as director of business operations.

The Saints held an open practice on Friday before an estimated crowd of 8,000, as fans got a first look at the revamped dome. The final phase of construction removed the two original pedestrian ramps from the stadium, providing ASM Global, the New Orleans Saints and concessionaire Sodexo Live! with total of 100,000 square feet of recaptured space. It’s now filled with new escalators, elevators, grab-and-go markets and bars across multiple levels.

Two new bars along the east and west sidelines on the main concourse both stretch 40 feet in length, the longest adult drinking destinations in the NFL, according to Thornton. They’re branded for Crown Royal and Bud Light.

Gensler and local firm Trahan Architects designed the improvements and Broadmoor Construction, the same company that restored the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, was the general contractor.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.