SYDNEY, Australia (VIP NEWS) — Decorated venues manager Paul Sergeant will be the new GM of Sydney's 21,000-capacity Acer Arena.
Australian venues operator AEG Ogden has moved swiftly by announcing Sergeant as the successor to David Humphreys, who earlier in the week was named GM of the new Perth Arena. The Western Australian arena will open in 2012 and will also be operated by AEG Ogden.
Sergeant, who in 2007 was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the events industry, is already well known to the Australian industry having served as GM of the AEG Ogden-managed Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane between 2007 and 2009.
His CV includes stints as director of both Wembley Arena and Wembley Stadium in London, CEO of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and most recently, as CEO of a privately owned professional Rugby Club and its venue in Wales.
The U.K.-born executive will commence his new role early this month.
"Acer Arena is now regularly recognized in as one of the leading arenas in the world," comments AEG Ogden chairman and CEO Harvey Lister. "Most recently, the highly respected Billboard Magazine ranked Acer Arena number three internationally. It was important in replacing David that we found someone with extensive international knowledge and industry contacts to be able to take the venue to the next level. Paul Sergeant is precisely the right person to do that."
A joint-venture between Australian-based Ogden IFC and the Anschutz Entertainment Group of the U.S. AEG live entertainment group, AEG Ogden is the largest venue management firm in the Asia Pacific region. The Brisbane-based group's portfolio of 16 arenas, convention centers and stadia includes the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, and convention centers in Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin and Kuala Lumpur.
