Ambassador Theatre Group Acquires Theatre Royal, First Australian Theater

New York, NY - Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) - the world's number one live theater company with over 40 venues in London's West End, across the UK, and The Lyric, the largest theater on Broadway - has today announced that they have agreed terms with the co-owners of Sydney's MLC Centre - QIC and The GPT Group (ASX:GPT) - for a lease and the management of the Theatre Royal in Sydney, Australia.

The Theatre Royal, part of the MLC Centre and situated on King Street, is Sydney's oldest theatrical institution and one of the city's premier commercial theatre venues.

Situated in the heart of the CBD and with a seating capacity of more than 1100, the theater will undergo a major refurbishment under management by ATG, providing a significant boost to the Sydney arts and cultural community and guaranteeing a promising future for one of the city's iconic venues.

The announcement comes as the MLC Centre has made significant progress on the redevelopment of its food court and retail spaces, as part of the co-owners' broader vision to deliver a vibrant location to shop, socialize and enjoy cultural events.

GPT Chief Investment Officer Carmel Hourigan said the MLC Centre would benefit greatly from partnering with one of the world's top live theater companies.

"The MLC Centre will become home to a new world class theatre, which supports our vision for the precinct as a unique and exciting place, where people gather for both business and leisure. The owners chose to work with ATG because it has a strong track record of delivering premium productions," Ms. Hourigan said.

"The announcement of a new theater operator is another important step in the transformation of this asset."

QIC Director, Investment Management Stuart Miller said that the agreement of terms with ATG would build upon the MLC Centre's offer and play a big part in changing how people engage with the center of Sydney.

"The Theatre Royal is an important part of Sydney's history and its revival, in partnership with ATG, will complement the MLC Centre's offer, working in harmony with our renewed dining and shopping experience," Mr. Miller said.

ATG, the world's leading live theater company founded by Sir Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire OBE, own and operate 40 venues and counting in the West End of London, across the UK and Broadway. They are also an international award winning production company, as well as the world's market leader in theater ticketing.

ATG's Asia Pacific operations are headquartered in Sydney and they are an active theater producer in Australia, with recent productions including the award-winning Legally Blonde the Musical; Thriller Live; Guys and Dolls; West Side Story and the recent hit production of The Rocky Horror Show.

ATG founder Sir Howard Panter said that having produced shows in Australia for a number of years, ATG has fallen in love with the MLC Centre and the Theatre Royal and it will be working with the MLC Centre co-owners on a major refurbishment of the theater to improve its facilities and create a premium experience for theatre patrons.

"We plan to showcase the very best of theater from Australia and the rest of the world, placing the MLC Centre and the Theatre Royal firmly in the center of Sydney's theatrical life," said Sir Howard Panter.

ATG Asia Pacific CEO Tim McFarlane said, "For ATG this heralds the dawn of its venue management operations in Asia Pacific, a region that will play a major part in our international expansion plan."

ATG continues active discussions with other Australian venues and developments are underway for additional theaters, as well as, in Korea, Japan, Singapore and China, with new productions also earmarked for these territories.

For press information on ATG, West End shows and regional venues, please visit the Press Centre on the ATG website www.atgtickets.com

About GPT

The GPT Group is an active owner and manager of a $9.4 billion diversified portfolio of high quality Australian retail, office and logistics property assets and a Funds Management platform with $9.6 billion of assets under management. The Group's portfolio includes some of Australia's most iconic real estate assets including MLC Centre and Australia Square in Sydney, Melbourne Central and Highpoint Shopping Centre in Melbourne and One One One Eagle Street in Brisbane. Listed on the ASX since 1971, GPT is today one of Australia's largest diversified listed property groups and is one of the top 50 listed stocks by market capitalisation.

About QIC

QIC is one of the largest institutional investment managers in Australia, with A$72.9 billion[1] in funds under management. QIC has around 90 clients including governments, pension plans, sovereign wealth funds and insurers, spanning Australia, Europe, Asia, Middle East and the US. Headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, QIC also has offices in Sydney, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and London. For more information, please visit: www.qic.com.

About ATG

· Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) is the global leader in live theater.

· Co-founded by Sir Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire OBE in 1992, we are the world's largest live theatre group with a portfolio of 40 venues and counting including in London West End, theatres across the UK cities, the largest theater on Broadway and The Lyric Theater (formerly Foxwoods Theater).

· We are an internationally recognized and award winning theater producer with affiliated partner companies including Sonia Friedman Productions, Jerry Mitchell Productions, Jamie Lloyd Productions and First Family Entertainment.

· ATG is the majority shareholder of BB Group, one of the leading producers and promoters of premium live entertainment in Europe with a particular strength in touring musicals and dance productions throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as building a new theatre in Cologne, Germany with the BB Group.

· In addition we present leading global brands at our venues such as Wicked, Jersey Boys and Disney's The Lion King. Our recent Broadway co-production of The King and I with Lincoln Center Theatre won 4 major awards at the 2015 Tony Awards including Best Musial Revival.

· We are the UK leader in theater ticketing services, selling over 11 million tickets per annum and with a unique customer database of over 6 million UK households. Our ticketing website, ATG Tickets, www.atgtickets.com is the UK's most visited theater website. ATG also owns LOVETheatre.com and Groupline.com

· Engaging with local communities is an important part of our work and our creative learning activities aim to develop theater audiences and practitioners for the future and make the arts accessible to all.

· The magic of an outstanding theater going experience is at the heart of everything we do and we are passionate about offering our visitors the highest quality performances together with exceptional service.

· Having established our reputation in the UK, we are now replicating our successful business model internationally.

· ATG have offices in London, New York, Sydney and Cologne Germany and are poised to accelerate our international expansion.