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Endeavor, owner of the Hollywood talent agency, on Wednesday raised $ 1.9 billion through its public listing and simultaneous private placement of its shares, valuing the company at just over $ 10 billion and consolidating the wealth of its founder Ari Emanuel.
He sold shares at $ 24 a piece, at the top of the range he set earlier this month.
Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, CEO of Endeavor, along with other executives, will own a 37.7 million pot of 429.7 million shares of Endeavor, a stake worth more than $ 900 million at the price of the IPO.
Emanuel founded Endeavor in 1995 as a talent agency and the company has expanded and diversified through several acquisitions, buying rival William Morris agency and sports agency IMG and adding to its portfolio the ultimate wrestling championship and the Miss Universe beauty pageant.
Endeavor raised $ 511 million from IPOs on the IPO and another $ 1.4 billion through a simultaneous private placement of its shares. Private placement investors include New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Abu Dhabi State Fund, Mubadala, and Elliott Investment Management.
KKR, which bought a portion of UFC in 2016, also raised approximately $ 437 million by selling its stake in Endeavor through simultaneous private placement.
Endeavor was hit hard by the pandemic last year, after live events stopped and film and television productions stopped. Losses expanded in 2020 to $ 625 million with revenue of $ 3.5 billion.
UFC, the mixed martial arts franchise that Endeavor bought in 2016 in partnership with private equity groups, has been a more reliable part of the group’s business. Although event cancellation was also affected by UFC, the company is relatively stable thanks to a long-term licensing agreement with Disney, which allowed it to broadcast UFC events to ESPN and its broadcast service. long-term.
Endeavor plans to use some of the IPO revenue to buy the remaining 49.9% of UFC it does not yet own.
Previously he tried to float in 2019, when he previously tried to raise up to $ 712 million at a valuation of $ 8 billion shelves the plan due to the limited appetite of investors.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank advised on the 2021 offer.
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