Vince McMahon’s beloved company World Wrestling Entertainment is set to be sold to Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor Group, which is the parent company of UFC. The speculation regarding WWE’s sale has been going on for a while, and now it seems that the sale could be finalised as early as this week.
According to a report in New York Post, the parent company of UFC, another entertainment and combat brand similar to the WWE is set to acquire majority ownership of the latter. Endeavor is all set to acquire WWE in an all-stock deal and sources close to the developments have confirmed the news to Reuters as well.
Endeavor are reportedly set to buy 51 per cent of WWE’s shares, while the remaining 49 per cent would remain with the WWE shareholders.
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WWE’s shares have seen an immense rise this year, with a growth of 30% the shares closed at $91.26 on Friday. Thus, the wrestling brand’s market capitalization has skyrocketed to $6.8 billion. As per a report in Reuters, Endeavor has a market value of $11.3 billion.
Earlier in 2016, Endeavor had acquired a majority stake in Ultimate Fighting Championship, the world’s biggest martial arts organization. The deal initially was worth nearly $4.2 billion and later they took control of UFC completely, acquiring the brand’s IPO five years after their first purchase.
WWE meanwhile announced in January that they would be looking for strategic options including the sale of the company, this was shortly after McMahon’s return to the company. They had even hired the Raine Group as well as the law firm named Kirkland & Ellis to help as advisers.
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In July 2022, Vince announced his retirement following allegations of misconduct. McMahon’s daughter Stephanie also resigned as the company’s Co-CEO nearly a week after her father distanced himself from the brand.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund were also rumoured to be in the race to acquire WWE but now the latest reports claim that UFC’s parent company Endeavor seem to have stolen a march on their fellow rivals.
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