Silver Lake has successfully taken publicly traded Endeavor private again, closing its acquisition of outstanding shares that will see the entertainment giant led by Ari Emanuel wave goodbye to the New York Stock Exchange after four years.
The Endeavor brand will no longer be used publicly. Its collection of assets will operate under WME Group, the companies said today.
The Silver Lake acquisition group, which also includes Endeavor management and some outside investors, has acquired 100% of the outstanding shares in the company they did not already own. As reported, Endeavor’s public stockholders are entitled to receive $27.50 in cash for each share of Endeavor Class A common stock as of the closing – a 55% premium.
It’s been a long gestating deal. Emanuel took Endeavor public in April of 2021 and by fall of 2023 announced plans to explore alternatives. Its largest investor, Silver Lake Partners, stepped up, saying it wanted to buy in EDR. It formally proposed to do that about a year ago and closed on that today.
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Silver Lake owns 71% of the voting power of Endeavor with co-CEO Egon Durban and Managing Director Stephen Evans members of the board’s Executive Committee. Endeavor’s IPO launched with fanfare after a few false starts but in the end didn’t see the stock gains that Emanuel had hoped for. After several years, he noted “the continued dislocation between Endeavor’s public market value and the intrinsic value of Endeavor’s underlying assets” as a reason to rethink it.
However, going public proved key to growing the business since it provided the company with a currency to do a major deal – acquiring Vince McMahon’s WWE and merging it with its owned UFC to create a new, leading sports and entertainment company TKO Group. Endeavor retains its controlling ownership stake in TKO.
Silver Lake said it believes that when consolidating all of TKO’s value into Endeavor, the combined total enterprise value of $25 billion at $27.50 per share makes this the largest private equity sponsor public-to-private investment transaction in over a decade, and the largest ever in the media and entertainment sector.
The portfolio of representation businesses owned by Endeavor Group will now be called WME Group, including its eponymous talent agency along with IMG Licensing and non-scripted, Emmy winning Pantheon Media Group with its 20 production labels.
Durban called it a “remarkable moment” and thanked Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, and “the relentless and ambitious strategic vision they have shared for more than twenty years to build Endeavor into a global powerhouse across talent, brands, and IP spanning entertainment, media, and sports. Silver Lake is proud and honored to be their partners since 2012 as they have continued to build the company.”
“Silver Lake has previously invested on six separate occasions to support Endeavor and now, with this latest investment, it is the single largest position in our global portfolio.” Durban continued: “Silver Lake has never sold a share, instead increasing our stake as we remain highly excited about the long-term growth outlook for the company.”
Silver Lake Silver Lake is a global technology investment firm with approximately $104 billion in assets under management and committed capital.
Ariel Emanuel, now Executive Chairman of WME Group, “I am grateful to Egon and the team at Silver Lake for the trust they have placed in me as a founder and entrepreneur. Together, we have created and enhanced a foundation unlike any other to accelerate value creation for clients and partners across WME Group and TKO, which I am excited to continue to build and grow.”
Leadership, other details:
Ariel Emanuel, who founded the Endeavor talent agency in 1995 and most recently served as CEO of Endeavor, is now Executive Chairman of WME Group. He also continues as CEO and Executive Chair of TKO.
Mark Shapiro will now lead WME Group as President and Managing Partner in conjunction with Christian Muirhead and Richard Weitz. Shapiro most recently served as President and COO of Endeavor. He also continues as President and COO of TKO.
Christian Muirhead and Richard Weitz, who have served as Co-Chairmen of WME since Fall 2022, are now Co-Chairmen of WME Group and continue to lead the agency.
Patrick Whitesell will become the CEO and Founder of a new platform in partnership with Silver Lake to invest in and scale properties and IP across sports, media, and entertainment.
WME Group is the new name for the portfolio of representation businesses that includes talent agency WME, brand licensing agency IMG Licensing, marketing agency 160over90, and nonscripted content business Pantheon Media.
WME Group is a global network of businesses that represent the world’s leading talent, intellectual property, and brands.
The Endeavor brand will no longer be used publicly, but Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. remains the privately held parent company of WME Group and retains its controlling ownership stake in TKO Group Holdings, Inc. Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. owns approximately 61% of TKO.
TKO is a premium sports and entertainment company comprising UFC, WWE, IMG, On Location and PBR that remains publicly traded (NYSE: TKO).
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