DEAG Founder Peter Schwenkow to Launch European Live Entertainment Group

Peter Schwenkow has announced plans to launch a new European live and family entertainment group, two years after he left DEAG, the European live giant he founded in 1978.

Backing:

• Swiss private equity firm Ufenau Capital Partners intends to back the initiative as investor and majority shareholder.

• The firm can deploy up to €100 million of equity over the coming years for suitable investments and further acquisitions.

The strategy:

• The official announcement says the aim is to “bring successful mid-sized promoters, producers and operators together under a common umbrella and support their continued development alongside their existing management teams.”

• Each business would retain its individual identity and operational autonomy.

• Schwenkow is expected to lead the new group and play a central role in driving its strategic development alongside Ufenau.

• Grandezza Entertainment GmbH, the circus, family show, and Christmas event company Schwenkow acquired from DEAG in 2025, is expected to become a complementary part of the group in due course.

Backstory:

• Upon founding DEAG Deutsche Entertainment AG in Berlin in 1978, Schwenkow built the business into an international entertainment group with more than €400 million in revenues and more than 6,000 annual shows and events.

• In addition to promoting performances by David Bowie and the Rolling Stones as well as productions such as Disney On Ice, he also developed various proprietary entertainment formats, helped shape venues including the Wintergarten, Friedrichsbau and Apollo variety theaters, and led more than 60 acquisitions.

What they said:

• Peter Schwenkow: “Europe’s entertainment market is home to a large number of highly successful, often founder-owned businesses. Together with Ufenau, we want to offer these entrepreneurs and their management teams a long-term growth perspective as part of a strong European group. Ufenau brings capital and extensive buy-and-build expertise; I will contribute my industry knowledge and network. Ralf Flore and I have known and respected each other since our time together at DEAG. I look forward to opening a new chapter in European entertainment with him and his team.”