LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Oak View Group (OVG), a global service, development and investment company for sports, live entertainment and convention industries, has acquired Rhubarb Hospitality Collection (RHC), a global high-end hospitality provider.
The acquisition from LGT Private Debt aims to elevate the experience for fans at venues worldwide, ensuring every fan gets a premium experience. In addition to RHC’s growth plan, the current leadership team, led by P.B. Jacobse, will help drive OVG’s plans to transform the food and beverage experience at arenas, stadiums and live entertainment venues across the UK and worldwide.
In the UK, OVG, with the support of RHC, will operate Co-op Live, the UK’s largest arena which is currently being developed in Manchester by OVG in partnership with City Football Group. RHC will help deliver Co-op Live’s commitments to sustainability and local sourcing.
RHC has iconic venues across London, New York, and Berlin. RHC is forecasted to deliver nine-figure revenues in 2023 and its team of 2,000 caters to over 5 million people every year at venues including Peak in New York, the tremendously popular 10,000 square-foot stunning restaurant, bar, and event space on the 101st floor of 30 Hudson Yards as well as the Royal Albert Hall, Ascot Racecourse, Sky Garden, 22 Bishopsgate, as well as venues in Berlin alongside the renowned Edge.
The deal continues the growth OVG has experienced with recent acquisitions of Bovingdons Catering and the partnership with Christian Navarro, who transformed iconic retail shop Wally’s Wine & Spirits in Beverly Hills into a family-friendly ultra-high-end retail, bar, and restaurant concept.
OVG was founded in 2015 by music industry heavyweights Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff as a positive disruption to business as usual in the sports, live entertainment, and hospitality industries. OVG has billions in capital deployed across 9 projects globally, 5 of which are now open and operational. Co-op Live in Manchester will be the 6th when it opens, followed by Sao Paolo, Las Vegas, and Cardiff.
Leiweke, chairman and CEO, Oak View Group, said: “This acquisition, along with other companies we acquired over the last two years, gives us a platform that we think rivals or is better than any other food and beverage company out there. We feel strongly about this because we are facility owners and operators, and we see food and beverage differently than people who are simply just third-party vendors. If you look at the arenas we own and operate and you look at our upcoming ventures, like Co-op Live, by adding RHC we think we are now best-in-class on premium experience and hospitality and that is in large part because of our knowledge and experiences as arena owners and operators, not just food and beverage vendors. We’ve always believed that fans deserve the very best, from their experience getting to and from an arena to the best possible presentation of the show they’ve chosen to see, to the food and drink they buy. It has been clear from our first meeting that the RHC team shares both our vision to elevate the fan experience, as well as our focus on quality, sustainability, and the importance of a great company culture. RHC and OVG are the perfect partners to design and deliver the world’s best hospitality at venues around the world.”
Pieter-Bas Jacobse, Chief Executive of RHC, said: “This is an incredibly meaningful partnership for RHC, and we are thrilled to partner with OVG. We have known the team for many years, they understand our business model, and we all see best-in-class hospitality as essential to the value proposition between venues and their fans. Together, we are determined to redefine what it means to deliver a truly exceptional and unforgettable experience in our industry.”
RHC’s category-leading expertise in premium hospitality will allow OVG to offer to its venues and third-party clients curated service across the entire food and beverage value chain. Following the launch of OVG Hospitality in 2021, OVG completed the acquisitions of Spectra in November 2021, Spectrum Concessions in North America in August 2022, and UK-based Bovingdons in October 2022.
OVG further recently partnered with wine industry leader Navarro, to curate a luxurious culinary experience for guests within its world-class sports and entertainment venues as well as key strategic markets.
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