The company went partially public in 1996 and due to the uncertain income of live entertainment part of the board of directors and shareholders were getting unhappy with the division and wanted to only focus on television productions to create a steady flow of revenue.

Van den Ende stayed on as board member and shareholder for Endemol until 2000, when Telefonica acquired the entire company for $5.3 billion.

In order to do that he arranged licensing deals with Disney Theatrical, Little Star, Cameron Mackintosh, Really Useful Group and Vereinigte Bühnen Wien for their productions.

The production was a critical and financial flop, but it gave van den Ende the chance to co-produce several other titles in the following years such as Victor/Victoria, Titanic and Hamlet.

Until then the German market was for the most part served by Stella AG, but this company had severe financial troubles and ceased operation in 2002.

[10][11] Stage Entertainment created several own musicals for the German market such as Ich War Noch Niemals in New York, Hinterm Horizont and Der Schuh des Manitu.

Stage Entertainment together with ID&T started a joint venture in 2005 to produce a German version of Sensation White, the combination was unsuccessful and therefore dissolved after only two years.

[12] After The Netherlands, the United States of America and Germany the company opened an office in London's West End in 2002, where they produced shows like Fame and Blue Man Group.

After the acquisition by Advance Publication in 2018 no new shows were produced and the leases on both theaters weren't renewed, ending the Russian activities although this was never confirmed by the company.

[20] Current Ku'Damm 59UpcomingRomeo & Julia- Liebe ist alles/ Die Amme Upcoming Tarzan After the launch of a dedicated reservation line in 1990 in The Netherlands, the company also set up similar systems in the countries they entered in continental Europe.