Theatre Royal Haymarket announces new owner

A new owner has been announced for West End playhouse Theatre Royal Haymarket, after current owners Louis I Michaels Limited put it up for sale at the beginning of the year.

Access Entertainment, the global division of Leonard Blavatnik's Access Industries, has added the theatre to its portfolio of investments across television, film, and theatre.

Recent theatrical investments for the firm include Hamilton, Hello Dolly! and School of Rock in the West End and on Broadway.

Commenting on the purchase, Blavatnik said: "The UK is home to many of the world's most remarkable artistic talents. We are proud to be the new owners of the Theatre Royal Haymarket and will continue its long tradition of excellence."

The Grade I listed building on Haymarket – which has been purchased for an undisclosed sum –  is the third oldest playhouse after the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and Sadler's Wells on Rosebery Avenue. It sits opposite Her Majesty's Theatre, currently home to The Phantom of the Opera, and has been owned and run by three generations of a single family since the 1970s.

It is currently home to a dual-language production of Tartuffe, and other recent productions include The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? starring Damian Lewis and Sophie Okonedo, The Elephant Man with Bradley Cooper, and Venus in Fur with Natalie Dormer and David Oakes.