(Reuters)--Lyric Theatre, LLC has purchased Foxwoods Theater, the current home of the Spider-Man musical, from Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. the companies said on Monday.
Lyric Theatre, a subsidiary of Britain's Ambassador Theatre Group, paid about $65 million for Foxwoods--according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
The Foxwoods Theater, which opened in 1997 and seats nearly 2,000, is one of Broadway's largest venues. It is presently showing the troublesome rock musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which set a record for weekly ticket sales with $2.9 million during the 2011 holiday season.
Foxwoods, located adjacent to New York's Times Square, is Ambassador's first theater in the United States--its 40th venue, overall. Musicals such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Jesus Christ Superstar have previously been staged at the theater.
The Ambassador Group said the purchase of Foxwoods was part of its focus on overseas expansion. It also is eyeing venues in Australia and Asia.
"Ownership of the Foxwoods Theater within the group will provide a catalyst to expand in the North American market and to further build on our past production successes in North America," Ambassador's Co-CEO Howard Panter said.
Live Nation said that the Foxwoods did not fit into the company's future strategy.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Logan K. Young)
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