Dolby Theatre Closes Sale to Jebs Hollywood Entertainment Ahead of 2025 Oscars

Elie Samaha’s Jebs Hollywood Entertainment has bought Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, ahead of the upcoming 2025 Oscars, real estate brokers Avison Young, which represent the buyer, announced on Tuesday.

Jebs is led by producer Samaha, and Sherwin Jarol, former Sony Pictures, Entertainment president Jeff Sagansky, who teased the news of purchasing the iconic Los Angeles theater at TheWrap’s Grill conference last week, Jonah Lazowski, Two Girls Holdings and Sheikh Abdulla Bin Mohamed Al Qasimi through his investment firm, Master Investment Group.

The theater seats 3,400 people and sits in the heart of Hollywood in a complex long known as Hollywood and Highland until recently. The Oscars are contracted with the venue through 2028. The theater also hosts premieres and holds concerts and screenings throughout the year.

The shopping and entertainment center in which the Dolby Theatre sits, which was recently renovated and changed its name to Ovation Hollywood, includes retail shops, restaurants, a movie theater complex and other businesses.

The Dolby opened in 2001 and has been the Oscars’ home ever since, becoming the 13th location to host the show. The ceremony had previously been held in either the the Shrine Auditorium or the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion since 1969. Other venues have included the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Pantages Theater, the Chinese Theatre and the Roosevelt Hotel, which hosted the inaugural Oscars on May 16, 1929, five months before the “Black Tuesday” Wall Street crash.

Prior to the acquisition of Dolby Theatre, Jebs also owns the TCL Chinese Theatre, and Yamashiro restaurant, which it also listed with Avison Young earlier this year. The buyer was repped by Avison Young principal and managing director Chris Bonbright.

“The new ownership intends to continue its association with the Academy Awards while significantly increasing the number and variety of live performances, including many renowned Latin and other international acts at the fabled Dolby Theater,” Bonbright said in a statement. “Through its long-term and highly successful operation of the Chinese Theater, Jebs Hollywood Entertainment is an ideal synergistic owner-operator of this world-famous entertainment venue.”

The seller of the property was repped by Will Poulsen, and Peter Hajimihalis of JLL, and Carl Muhlstein of Muhlstein CRE. Castellan Real Estate Partners provided the debt financing, which was arranged by Slatt Capital led by Antonio Hachem, Cornelius Baliukonis and Wendy Wang.

Variety first reported the news.