Private equity giant Silver Lake has completed its acquisition of Endeavor Group Holdings, a global sports and entertainment company that owns Los Angeles-based talent agency WME.
The deal, first announced in April 2024, values the combined business — including the value of TKO Group — at $25 billion, or $27.50 per share.
Silver Lake says it believes this 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 investment firm has about $104 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital. Its portfolio companies collectively generate almost $252 billion of revenue per year and employ about 433,000 people globally.
Silver Lake purchased Endeavor’s outstanding shares at $27.50 per share, representing a 55% premium to the $17.72 market price on October 25, 2023, the last trading day before Endeavor announced that it would undergo a strategic review. The purchase price also delivered a 39% premium to Endeavor’s unaffected 30‐day volume-weighted average price.
Following the deal, Endeavor’s shares will cease trading and will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. Endeavor went public in 2021, raising $511 million from its IPO. That was after the company postponed its public listing in 2019 just a day before its scheduled debut on the NYSE.
Meanwhile, TKO, which owns the sports brands UFC, WWE, and Professional Bull Riders, will continue to trade on the NYSE. Endeavor owns a 61% controlling stake in TKO.
Effective after the deal’s completion, Endeavor is being rebranded as WME Group, with founder Ari Emanuel shifting from CEO to Executive Chairman while maintaining his role as chief of the publicly traded TKO Group.
Mark Shapiro, previously Endeavor’s President and Chief Operating Officer, will now lead WME Group as President and Managing Partner. Patrick Whitesell, previously Endeavor’s Executive Chairman, is launching a new investment platform in partnership with Silver Lake, focusing on sports, media, and entertainment properties and IP.
Silver Lake said financing for the transaction came from a combination of new and reinvested equity from Silver Lake, and additional capital from Mubadala Investment Company, the Dell family’s investment office, Lexington Partners, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, CPP Investments, and equity rolled over by Emanuel, Whitesell, and Shapiro.
“This remarkable moment—and the even more exciting future it launches—is thanks first and foremost to Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, and to 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,” said Egon Durban, Co-CEO and Managing Partner of Silver Lake.
“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.”
Egon Durban, Silver Lake
“Silver Lake is proud and honored to be their partners since 2012 as they have continued to build the company. Over this period, revenue has grown by twentyfold. 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 said, “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.”
The newly formed WME Group now covers a portfolio of entertainment businesses, including the WME talent agency, 160over90 marketing agency, IMG Licensing, and Pantheon Media Group.
Music Business Worldwide
