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WWE and the company that runs the Ultimate Fighting Championship will merge to create a $21.4 billion sports entertainment company.
A new public company will be created with the UFC and WWE brands, and Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. will hold a 51 percent controlling interest in the new company. Existing WWE shareholders will own 49 percent.
The two companies pegged the enterprise value of UFC at $12.1 billion and WWE at $9.3 billion.
The new business will be led by Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel. WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon will assume the same role at the new company.
The announcement comes after WWE founder and majority owner Vince McMahon returned to the company in January and indicated a possible sale.
Rumors abounded as to who might be interested in acquiring WWE, with rumors centered on companies such as Endeavor, Disney, Fox, Comcast, Amazon, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Industry experts see WWE as an attractive takeover target given its global reach and loyal fan base, which includes everyone from minors to seniors and a wide range of revenues.
The company held its big event, WrestleMania, over the weekend. Last year, WWE had $1.3 billion in revenue.
The company is also a social media giant. It surpassed 16 billion social video views in the last quarter of last year. It has nearly 94 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 20 million followers on TikTok. Five of the top 15 most followed female athletes in the world on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are female wrestlers, led by Ronda Rousey with 36.1 million followers.
In January and February of this year, WWE received more than 7.5 billion views on digital and social media, an increase of 15% over the same period last year.
Shares of Stamford, Connecticut-based World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. were down 4% before the open on Monday. Shares of Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Endeavor rose 3%.
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