Pacha owner FIVE Holdings is said to be buying Avant Gardner following the latter company’s botched grand reopening of its biggest venue, The Brooklyn Mirage.
The end of The Brooklyn Mirage‘s series of misadventures looks to be in sight as Pacha‘s parent company, FIVE Holdings, is reportedly acquiring the venue’s owner, Avant Gardner, from Axar Management Group.
The agreement was expected to be finalized yesterday, January 1, according to an unnamed source who spoke to BKMAG. But it’s not their first deal together. Axar was previously sued by lenders who put up a combined $11 million to fund the New York City venue’s renovations for misrepresenting Avant Gardner’s finances, per Bloomberg Law.
“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,” said the source. “[It’s] yet another example of the dangers of hedge funds entering the electronic music and nightlife landscape.”
The Brooklyn Mirage was set to reopen on May 1, 2025, but it failed to pass a necessary inspection ahead of the relaunch event. It hasn’t operated since, forcing organizers of planned events headlined by the likes of Rezz, The Chainsmokers, Sammy Virji, and Lee Burridge to relocate or cancel altogether.
Later in May, Josh Wyatt stepped down as Avant Gardner CEO to allow HARD founder Gary Richards to take the helm. Avant Gardner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy later in the month, and it filed for a permit to demolish The Brooklyn Mirage in October.
The Ibiza-based Pacha Group had previously entered the New York City market when it opened Pacha NYC in 2005. After a ten-year run, the nightclub shut its doors. FIVE Holdings, which purchased Pacha in 2023, is run by Indian entrepreneur Kabir Mulchandani, who was arrested in Dubai, where the company is based, on charges of fraud an embezzlement in 2009.
FIVE Holdings has not disclosed whether it plans to leverage its Pacha IP in the New York City market once again or launch a new nightlife brand altogether.