Endeavor goes public today (April 29), capping a two-year journey that will finally see the parent company of WME, IMG and UFC trade on the public markets.
In a securities filing Wednesday afternoon, the company officially priced its IPO at $24 per share, which would give it an enterprise value of about $10 billion. The company expects to raise as much as $588 million, inclusive of an option by the underwriters to purchase additional shares.
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, executive chairman Patrick Whitesell and president Mark Shapiro are expected to ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning. Endeavor will trade on the NYSE under the ticker “EDR.”
Assuming the IPO is successful, it would mark a significant victory for Emanuel, Whitesell and Shapiro, who had to pull their last IPO attempt in 2019 after receiving a lukewarm response from the markets.
The new IPO effort, officially launched late last month, is very different, with the company having already secured $1.7 billion in private placements, and with a new focus on sports like UFC and Professional Bull Riders, and owned IP.
The company plans to take control of 100 percent of UFC as it goes public, allowing it to tap into the MMA firm’s reliable revenue streams. It also nominated Tesla CEO Elon Musk as a board member. Those changes have helped give the company a valuation well above where it stood in 2019, before the pandemic wreaked havoc on the entertainment industry.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
