Madison Square Garden (MSG) Entertainment’s board of directors has approved the spin-off of its live entertainment and MSG Networks divisions, which is expected to be complete on 20 April.

The move will see the current parent company rebranded Sphere Entertainment Co. and will be comprised of the Sphere, MSG Networks and Tao Group Hospitality businesses.

The newly formed live entertainment company will take on the name Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp and will include New York City’s 20,000-cap Madison Square Garden, The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre and The Chicago Theatre, along with the firm’s entertainment and sports bookings business and long-term arena licence agreements with the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.

“EACH [COMPANY] WILL BE WELL POSITIONED TO GENERATE LONG-TERM VALUE FOR OUR SHAREHOLDERS”

“With today’s announcement, we are one step closer toward our goal of creating two distinct companies, each well positioned to generate long-term value for our shareholders,” says MSGE executive chairman and CEO James Dolan.

Shareholders of record as of 14 April will receive a distribution of one Class A or Class B share of the new company for every share of common stock held, representing 67% of the new company’s outstanding shares. Sphere Entertainment will own the remainder.

The company’s board of directors also authorised a $250 million share repurchase program for the new live entertainment company’s Class A common stock following the completion of the spin-off.

The company expects the common stock to trade in two markets on the New York Stock Exchange: in the “regular way” market under the company’s current name, Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp., and under the current ticker symbol, MSGE, and in the “ex-distribution” market under the new name, Sphere Entertainment Co., and under the symbol SPHR WI.

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