Ari Emanuel‘s live events and experiences holding company MARI has acquired a majority stake in event-focused marketing firm Bucket Listers.
Founded in 2018, Bucket Listers has collaborated with a range of studios and brands to stage pop-up restaurants, immersive experiences, cultural festivals and seasonal events. It puts on both original and IP-based experiences in partnership with major studios and IP holders, among them the Malibu Barbie Café with Mattel, Family Guy Experience with Disney, and Survivor Café with CBS/Paramount.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
MARI launched last fall as holding company for the Frieze art organization, global tennis tournaments and other assets once housed by Endeavor. Through a series of transactions over the past year, Endeavor was taken private, reconstituted and renamed the WME Group. Some assets once controlled by Endeavor were acquired by corporate cousin TKO Group Holdings. Emanuel is now CEO of TKO and executive chairman of WME Group.
Emanuel’s longtime lieutenant at Endeavor, Mark Shapiro, is a principal investor and board member at MARI, president and COO of TKO, and president and managing partner of WME Group.
In announcing the Bucket Listers deal, MARI said it reflects the company’s strategic focus on “building a more connected audience journey.”
Within the MARI portfolio, Bucket Listers is seen as a complement to TodayTix Group, a platform for discovering and attending live performances and cultural events. Bucket Listers will expand the group’s reach into new categories by using social-first audience engagement, an initial specialty of the start-up.
“Bucket Listers gives us deeper insight into how audiences discover and decide what to do,” said Emanuel, founder and principal investor of MARI. “As technology continues to reshape how time and attention are spent, Bucket Listers helps us engage audiences, understand demand more clearly, and build stronger relationships across the MARI portfolio.”
Andy Lederman, Founder and CEO of Bucket Listers, said in a statement he “could not imagine a better partner than MARI, with its expanding world-class portfolio of global experiences. We are honored to join forces with Ari, Mark and team, along with TodayTix, on a collective mission to modernize and reshape the future of live experiences.”
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