FIVE Holdings becomes new owner of Brooklyn Mirage and Avant Gardner
The deal reflects an unprecedented moment for large-scale club ownership in the US through Middle East-based investment
The Dubai-based holding company FIVE Holdings, which owns The Pacha Group, has acquired New York venues Avant Gardner and Brooklyn Mirage.
An industry source told BK Mag that an agreement was finalised earlier this month, resulting in FIVE Holdings becoming the new owner of both Brooklyn Mirage and the broader Avant Gardner complex that houses the venue.
The deal follows bankruptcy court approval that allowed Axar Capital Management, a longtime lender to Avant Gardner, to acquire the majority of the company’s assets after it filed for Chapter 11 protection in August. Those assets include Brooklyn Mirage, one of New York’s most high-profile electronic music venues. Axar was subsequently sued by Mirage’s other lenders over alleged misrepresentations of Avant Gardner’s financial condition following the reported $110 million sale, according to Bloomberg.
Speaking anonymously to BK Mag, the source described the latest developments as “yet another example of the dangers of hedge funds entering the electronic music and nightlife landscape.”
“This will have a lasting impact on the New York electronic music market, positioning the Dubai-funded Pacha brand to steamroll independent promoters in the city with inflated talent offers even while consumers are still owed refunds from Electric Zoo and canceled Mirage shows,” they reportedly said.
FIVE Holdings is reportedly planning to rebrand the venue as Pacha New York.
Pacha previously operated a New York venue between 2005 and 2016, marking the brand’s first sustained presence in the city; an era that predated FIVE Holdings’ ownership of The Pacha Group, which it acquired in 2023. Should FIVE Holdings proceed with a full rebrand later this year, Pacha New York would return a decade after its closure, this time under a markedly different ownership structure and strategy.
The move would also represent a first-of-its-kind moment for the US nightlife industry, with a Middle East-based company assuming direct ownership of a major American nightlife complex. While Middle Eastern capital has long been present in US real estate, hospitality and entertainment, there are no known precedents of such investment extending to the outright ownership of a dedicated, large-scale nightlife or club venue in this manner.
