On Monday morning, it was introduced that World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will merge to kind a brand new publicly traded firm managed by Endeavor Group. Endeavour will personal a 51% stake within the new firm, whereas WWE shareholders will maintain the remaining 49%. The deal values WWE at $9.3 billion and UFC at $12.1 billion. The merged firm’s title will probably be introduced at a later time, and the board will include 11 individuals, with six appointed by Endeavor and 5 by WWE.
Today, @Endeavor introduced it has signed an settlement to kind a $21+ billion world dwell sports activities and leisure firm made up of @UFC and @WWE. https://t.co/lPrkBmKJXm pic.twitter.com/ZBk95c5exU
— Endeavor (@Endeavor) April 3, 2023
Ari Emanuel, the CEO of Endeavor, will act because the chief government of each Endeavor and the brand new firm, with Vince McMahon as government chairman. Dana White will stay as president of UFC, and WWE CEO Nick Khan will keep on as president of the wrestling enterprise. The merged firm will convey collectively two of the largest sports activities leisure manufacturers on the earth, regardless of the variations of their content material and tradition. UFC options authentically brutal combined martial arts preventing, whereas WWE options scripted matches and cleaning soap opera-like storylines.
The announcement confirmed an earlier CNBC report and got here a day after WWE’s flagship dwell occasion, WrestleMania, in California. The firm has spent a number of months on the lookout for a purchaser, and McMahon returned as chairman in January to supervise the method. Shares of WWE are up greater than 33% this yr, giving it a market worth of greater than $6.79 billion.
The merger will even conclude WWE’s decades-long run as a household enterprise, as McMahon’s father based the corporate in its authentic incarnation in the course of the center of the twentieth century. Over the previous 4 many years, WWE has grown into a world phenomenon, spawning breakout stars comparable to Hulk Hogan, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dave Bautista, and John Cena.
The merged firm will provide Endeavor’s shareholders a muscular media and dwell occasions enterprise, in addition to many years value of mental property. WWE generated $1.29 billion in income final yr, pushed primarily by its $1 billion media unit. UFC helped its mother or father firm’s sports activities enterprise make $1.3 billion in income final yr.
The cultures of Endeavor, UFC, and WWE match properly collectively, as they mirror the hard-edged kinds of their leaders. McMahon, Emanuel, and White are recognized for his or her outsized personalities, and every has their share of devoted allies and harsh critics. White has additionally confronted scandal earlier this yr, as a video emerged exhibiting him slapping his spouse throughout a public argument at a New Year’s Eve social gathering in Mexico. He later apologized.
Overall, the merger between WWE and UFC is predicted to convey collectively two of the largest names in sports activities leisure and create a brand new publicly traded firm managed by Endeavor Group. The deal values WWE at $9.3 billion and UFC at $12.1 billion, with Ari Emanuel appearing as CEO and Vince McMahon as government chairman. The merger will provide Endeavor’s shareholders a muscular media and dwell occasions enterprise, in addition to many years value of mental property.
