Major step in WWE's future to be completed next week
WWE's future seems to have been decided and will be finalized by next week as the Endeavor group will take over the ownership of the company.
In April earlier this year, Endeavor Group Holdings and WWE reached an agreement to form a new company. This meant that the agreement had merged two of the biggest sports and entertainment companies, Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Entertainment, as they are set to come under one roof. The conglomerate is set to be called TKO Holdings.
According to the reports last month, the merger was expected to be completed by mid-to-late September. Now, WWE has released an official statement that the company's takeover will be completed on September 12.
"Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EDR) (“Endeavor”) and World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) (“WWE”) today announced they expect to close the previously announced transaction to form TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (“TKO”) on September 12, 2023, after which time TKO will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol 'TKO'. "
The newly created company was valued at a whopping $21 billion, with Endeavor owning 51% of the stake and WWE's shareholders owning the remaining 49%. Endeavor CEO Ariel Emanuel is set to be CEO of the newly formed conglomerate, and Vince McMahon will be the Executive Chairman.
WWE and UFC's parent company, Endeavor, faces a drop in market value
Endeavor Group Holdings faced a major drop in market value ahead of their merger next week.
The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund recently invested a staggering $100 million into the Professional Fighters League(PFL), an MMA upstart league. PFL intends to compete with established giants such as UFC in the MMA industry.
According to reports, shares of WWE and Endeavor faced a huge drop after the Saudi Arabia-PFL deal was announced. The shares of Endeavor dropped by 9% in value. On the other hand, WWE shares dropped by 12% in value.
It will be interesting to see if the growth of PFL has any effect on UFC and WWE in the near future.
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