Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp on Monday agreed to sell its stake in Tao Group Hospitality to realty-focused investment firm Mohari Hospitality in a deal that values the high-end restaurant business at $550 million. Reports said that any funds from the sale of Tao would be directed toward completing the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas, which has seen its construction costs steadily increase.
MSG Entertainment will receive about $300 million in net cash proceeds from the sale. Tao Group is a worldwide company with 80 locations in 20 markets. In Las Vegas, the operations encompass 17 restaurants, nightclubs, day clubs, and pool lounges. Moreover, MSG Entertainment said the sale of its 66.9 percent interest in Tao to Cyprus-based Mohari Hospitality.
The Sphere will open in September, five years after its groundbreaking. In fact, the first performance will come from the legendary rock band U2. MSG also announced the first non-music act last week, which will be an immersive production dubbed Postcard From Earth. This is set to be directed by Oscar Winner The Whale Darren Aronofsky.
The MSG Sphere includes a 580,000-square-foot exosphere with an outdoor programmable LED screen. In addition to that, inside the planned 17,500-seat venue, a 160,000-square-foot interior LED display will wrap around the audience for what MSG executives have termed an “immersive visual environment.”
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