Pace Gallery's European and Asian Arm Lost 35.5 Percent in 2024

Pace Gallery's UK-registered umbrella company posted a 35.5 percent turnover drop for 2024, falling to $67.69 million from $104.95 million in 2023. The figures appear in accounts filed with Companies House, the British government's business register, 10 months late.

The company, The Pace Gallery Limited, recorded a pre-tax loss of $2,429 for 2024. That compares with a $6.8 million profit in 2023 — a swing from profit to breakeven-negative in a single year. The entity serves as the umbrella for Pace's operations in Europe and Asia, excluding Tokyo and the US.

What do the numbers show?

Net assets fell to $2.48 million from $4.51 million in 2023, a 45 percent decline. The amount payable to the US parent company, The Pace Gallery LLC, dropped to $9.39 million from $17.31 million.

The filing also discloses a debt of $19.2 million owed to the US parent, which the company cannot repay. That debt will be converted into shares by the end of 2026.

"This reflected a continuation of the sector-wide contraction in global and UK art markets as well as a continued reluctance by some clients to buy which became most pronounced in 2024 and continued through 2025 and into 2026," Pace Gallery said in the filing. "The market conditions led the directors to initiate cost saving measures across the group, but despite these measures, difficult market conditions continued."

Is the debt conversion a distress signal?

A Pace spokesperson pushed back on that reading. "The proposed debt-for-equity conversion is part of a broader global financial management strategy, which reflects a capital structure decision within the Pace group and should not be interpreted as a loss or a liquidity issue for the UK business," the spokesperson said.

The gallery added that the parent company has determined a portion of its UK investment is more "appropriately reflected as equity rather than intercompany debt. The proposed transaction is intended to strengthen the UK company's balance sheet and align its capital structure with the long-term needs of the business."

In plain terms: the US owner is forgiving what it is owed by turning loans into ownership stakes.

What structural changes are underway?

The accounts follow a summer of visible moves. In June, Pace put its London property on the market, saying it wanted a "less corporate" space in the British capital. Last month, the gallery announced it was seeking tenants for part of its Chelsea headquarters in New York.

Pace CEO Marc Glimcher recently told reporter Julie Brener Davich in the Substack newsletter The Appraisal that by early 2026 the company was convinced that "we needed to make real change in the structure of the business to adapt to the new reality."

Glimcher identified the drivers of that new reality:

• rising interest rates
• global instability
• the closing of the 1031 exchange tax loophole
• logistics costs for shipping and crating

What comes next?

The debt-for-equity conversion must complete by the end of 2026, giving the UK entity roughly two years to rebuild its balance sheet while client reluctance to buy, in Pace's own words, persists into a third consecutive year.