Private equity giant Silver Lake has agreed to acquire Endeavor Group Holdings, a global sports and entertainment company that owns Los Angeles-based talent agency WME, and take it private in a deal that values the latter at $13 billion.
Silver Lake has offered to take Endeavor private in partnership with the Endeavor management team and additional anchor investors, according to a press release on Tuesday (April 2).
Endeavor stockholders will see a substantial payout, receiving $27.50 per share in cash. This represents a 55% premium over the unaffected share price before Endeavor initiated a strategic review process in late 2023. The total transaction value jumps to $25 billion when considering Endeavor’s stake in NYSE-listed professional wrestling company TKO Group Holdings.
TKO was formed as part of a merger between WWE and Zuffa, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Endeavor clarified that TKO is not party to the transaction with Silver Lake, and will remain a publicly traded company “that will continue to benefit from its connectivity to Endeavor’s expertise, relationships, and significant capabilities.”
“We believe this transaction will maximize value for all of Endeavor’s public stockholders and are excited to continue to unlock and invest in the growth opportunities ahead as a private company.”
Ariel Emanuel, Endeavor
Silver Lake and Endeavor said the acquisition marks 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 transaction is fully financed, with a combination of new and reinvested equity from Silver Lake, additional capital from partnering investors (Mubadala Investment Company, DFO Management, Lexington Partners, and funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management), equity rolled over by members of the Endeavor management team (Ariel Emanuel, Patrick Whitesell, and Mark Shapiro), and debt financing secured by major financial institutions (Goldman Sachs USA, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Bank of America, Barclays, Deutsche Bank AG New York, and Royal Bank of Canada).
The deal has been unanimously approved by a special committee of independent Endeavor directors and the company’s executive committee. Stockholder approval is not required, and the closing is expected by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Both parties expressed confidence in the decision. Endeavor CEO Ariel Emanuel highlighted the long-standing partnership with Silver Lake, saying: “Since 2012, Endeavor’s strategic partnership with Silver Lake and Egon Durban have been central to our evolution into the global sports and entertainment leader we are today.
“This is a very special partnership. Together, we have built and grown Endeavor from $350 million in annual revenue when we first invested in 2012 to nearly $6 billion in consolidated revenue today.”
Egon Durban, Silver Lake
“We believe this transaction will maximize value for all of Endeavor’s public stockholders and are excited to continue to unlock and invest in the growth opportunities ahead as a private company.”
“Our unwavering belief in Ari and Patrick, together with Mark and other talented leaders at Endeavor, has never been stronger. This is a very special partnership,” said Egon Durban, Co-CEO and Managing Partner of Silver Lake, and Chairman of the Board of Endeavor. “Together, we have built and grown Endeavor from $350 million in annual revenue when we first invested in 2012 to nearly $6 billion in consolidated revenue today.”
“Now, Endeavor can take advantage of its unique core platform to meet the dynamic forces driving growth in content, sports, and live events with bold vision. Consistent with our mission and underscored by this commitment being among the largest in Silver Lake’s history, we are all in on working with the Endeavor team and our trusted anchor investors to create value by accelerating growth at scale.”
Upon completion, Endeavor’s common stock will cease trading publicly. After postponing its IPO in 2019 just a day before its scheduled debut on the New York Stock Exchange, Endeavor went public in April 2021. It raised $511 million from the IPO.
For Silver Lake, the acquisition marks another major move for the company after it acquired Sydney, Australia-headquartered TEG, one of Asia Pacific’s leading live entertainment and ticketing companies, in 2019. In February of last year, Silver Lake was reported to be preparing a sale of TEG via an auction targeting private equity firms. However, a deal has yet to come to fruition.
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