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Ron Burkle Goes on a Shopping Spree

Ron Burkle.
Photo: Patrick McMullan/PatrickMcMullan.com

Supermarket billionaire and big-time political donor Ron Burkle is starting his 2012 off right. The investor is making moves in concert promotion, movies, and magazines this week, using his investment firm Yucaipa to pull off three separate deals. A subsidiary of the firm, Y Entertainment, purchased New York agency Artist Group International, which books concerts for the likes of Metallica and Billy Joel, and also bought a minority stake in the independent movie studio Relativity, which will release Julia Roberts’s Snow White adaptation Mirror Mirror this year. Burkle, in partnership with Magic Johnson, also purchased BlackBook Media, including its flagship magazine and software arm Access Network. The pair already own the magazines Vibe and Uptown. Burkle’s next holiday party better be bonkers.

Ron Burkle Goes on a Shopping Spree