Endeavor and WWE have announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to form a new publicly listed company. The deal will bring together the WWE and UFC brands under one global sports and entertainment banner.
As part of the deal, Endeavor will assume a 51% controlling interest in the new company, with existing WWE shareholders retaining the remaining 49% of the brand.
“This is a rare opportunity to create a global live sports and entertainment pureplay built for where the industry is headed,” said Ariel Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor. “For decades, Vince and his team have demonstrated an incredible track record of innovation and shareholder value creation, and we are confident that Endeavor can deliver significant additional value for shareholders by bringing UFC and WWE together.”
As part of the restructuring, Emanuel will remain in his role as CEO of Endeavor, and will be joined by Vince McMahon (Executive Chairman of the Board), and Mark Shapiro who will now become President and COO of both Endeavor and the new company. Dana White will continue in his role as President of the UFC, while Nick Khan will act as President of the WWE branch. An 11 person board of directors will be announced at a later date. Endeavor will select 6 committee representatives and WWE will appoint 5 members to form the board.
“Given the incredible work that Ari and Endeavor have done to grow the UFC brand – nearly doubling its revenue over the past seven years – and the immense success we’ve already had in partnering with their team on a number of ventures, I believe that this is without a doubt the best outcome for our shareholders and other stakeholders,” said McMahon. “Together, we will be a $21+ billion live sports and entertainment powerhouse with a collective fanbase of more than a billion people and an exciting growth opportunity. The new company will be well positioned to maximize the value of our combined media rights, enhance sponsorship monetization, develop new forms of content and pursue other strategic mergers and acquisitions to further bolster our strong stable of brands. I, along with the current WWE management team, look forward to working closely with Ari and the Endeavor and UFC teams to take the businesses to the next level.”
The transaction, when closed, will give a $12.1B valuation to the UFC and a $9.3B valuation to the WWE. While the deal was unanimously approved by members of the board, the acquisition won’t be fully completed until later this fiscal year.
The announcement ends weeks of speculation leading up to Wrestlemania that McMahon was exploring a sale of the company. Rumours had previously linked the organization to Saudi funded investment firms, not unlike those that launched the LIV Golf series in recent years.
However, the new partnership will keep ownership of the WWE brand Stateside, while also retaining a role for the McMahon family to play in the future of the new company.
The new publicly traded organization will operate under the ticker symbol “TKO” on the stock market.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: KinkeSizemore. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.