State Champ Radio acquisition
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Entertainment management company Milk & Honey Music + Sports has acquired U.K.-based firm Bigfoot Music Management, Milk & Honey tells Billboard.
Under the terms of the deal, Bigfoot is being absorbed by Milk & Honey, meaning the firm will exist entirely under the Milk & Honey banner. As a result, Bigfoot’s current staff will now be part of the Milk & Honey team, and its entire client roster, which includes pioneering electronic producers Adam Beyer and Joris Voorn, will become Milk & Honey management clients. Beyer’s longtime manager, Jeremy Ford, will be senior vp of electronic for Milk & Honey globally and be based in the company’s London offices.
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The move further expands the dance/electronic footprint at Milk & Honey, as the company hired longtime music manager Andrew Goldstone as head of electronic music this past March. Goldstone brought manager Taren Smith into the company, along with clients including the dance/electronic artists Kream and Sullivan King.
“As diverse as the Milk & Honey brand is in mainstream music genres, we are equally invested in underground music,” Milk & Honey founder and CEO Lucas Keller tells Billboard. “The company looks after unique talent across all facets of the music business, and this deal with Bigfoot to join Milk & Honey represents a further investment into techno and electronic music which is a top priority for the company. We are very excited to have Jeremy and his team in our UK office and joining the global M&H outfit.”
Over the years, Ford and his team have helped guide and grow international dance brands, including Beyer’s Drumcode label and Voorne’s Netherlands-based house and techno label, Spectrum. Other artists on the Bigfoot roster who will now be represented by Milk & Honey include Juliet Fox, Sarah Story, Sam Wolfe, Simon Patterson and Will Atkinson.
“Over the past three decades, Jeremy Ford and Bigfoot Management have built one of the most respected operations in electronic music,” adds Milk & Honey head of artist management & sports Dave Frank. “From Adam Beyer and Joris Voorn to the iconic Drumcode brand that encompasses record label, events, fashion and globally syndicated radio, their team has played a big role in shaping modern techno and house. We’re thrilled to welcome the Bigfoot team into the Milk & Honey family as we combine our networks, relationships and resources in representing and growing world-class talent who are and will be the global stars that drive our scene into the future.”
“Since its inception, Bigfoot has always championed talented artists who possess authenticity and ambition as well as brands, labels and events that also share a purposeful, global vision,” says Ford. “We’ve always strived to embrace, nurture and develop visionary leaders within the scene. Joining Milk & Honey represents an incredible opportunity for us to expand our reach and strengthen our ability to serve artists in a wider capacity. We share the same values, drive, work ethic and belief in building long-term careers so with this partnership and the fusion of two such talented teams we look forward to an exciting future that will no doubt shine a brighter spotlight on those we represent.”
Universal Music Group has formally notified the European Commission of its intent to acquire Downtown Music Holdings for $775 million, triggering a regulatory review. Although the deal falls below the EU’s usual thresholds for antitrust scrutiny, authorities in the Netherlands and Austria referred it to the commission, which now must decide by July 22 whether […]
Tencent Music Entertainment, China’s fast-growing streaming platform, announced on Tuesday (June 10) it plans to acquire Ximalaya, a Shanghai-based service for streaming podcasts and audiobooks. Under a merger agreement signed today, Ximalaya will become a wholly owned subsidiary of TME, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions. According to filings with the SEC and the […]
Round Hill Music acquired the publishing catalogs of songwriters Terry Shaddick (Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical”), Linus Eklöw (Icona Pop’s “I Love It”) and Carmine Appice (Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”) along with publishing assets of the band Dirty Heads (“Vacation”) and a portion of the master rights for Al Stewart (“Year of the Cat”). According to a press release, the acquisitions bring Round Hill’s catalog value under management back to more than $1 billion following the sales of its London Stock Exchange-listed fund to Concord in 2023. The company continues managing five private funds.
Rezonate Music Rights, a new investment platform that’s looking to acquire the royalty rights of music producers backed by a $150 million partnership with Bridgepoint Credit, announced its launch. According to a press release, the investment will allow Rezonate to make “high-profile” producer catalog acquisitions; Bridgepoint is also acquiring a minority stake in Rezonate’s management company. Co-founded by music producer Cam Blackwood, Rezonate has already acquired rights from producers including Loma Blackwood, Mark Crew, James Earp and Jussi Karvinen.
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Live Nation acquired Dominican Republic-based live entertainment company SD Concerts, which promotes Latin and international talent in the Dominican Republic, along with Aruba, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and Puerto Rico. The company also operates a ticketing platform that services all SD events; it will become part of the Ticketmaster ecosystem under the deal. According to Live Nation, fan attendance in the Latin American region was up more than 25% in the first quarter of this year.
Global streaming service Audiomack signed a deal with music fraud detection company Beatdapp to help eliminate streaming fraud on its platform. Through the deal, Beatdapp will remove fraudulent streams from sales reports, detect bots and more by analyzing streaming activity on Audiomack. “By partnering with Beatdapp, we have adopted the best-in-class technology from an impartial third party to demonstrate our commitment to both our creator and rights holder partners, and to uphold the integrity of our editorial recommendations and chart activity,” said Audiomack CEO Dave Macli in a statement.
Spotify struck a deal with United Airlines to bring more than 450 hours of free Spotify-curated playlists, podcasts and audiobooks to more than 130,000 United seatback screens. In a blog post, the streaming giant said it’s the first time it has offered audiobooks and video podcasts on an airline. Next year, United passengers will be able to use their personal devices to log in to the Spotify app on the airline’s in-flight screens, allowing them to pick up where they left off on their personal Spotify accounts.
Music synch platform SourceAudio launched the first comprehensive AI dataset licensing marketplace through which it will offer 14 million fully cleared tracks to AI companies via an opt-in model. The tracks come from major publishers, indie artists and production music libraries, providing AI companies with training datasets while offering compensation to writers and publishers. So far, the company has partnered with several AI companies, including Wondera.ai, generating more than $1.35 million in new annual recurring revenue for artists and publishers who opted in, according to a press release. Revenue from dataset licensing is paid out to rights holders up front or throughout the term of each license agreement. Rightsholders already on SourceAudio can contact their rep at the company to explore dataset licensing for themselves. Those not on SourceAudio can opt in by contacting the company here.
Karaoke technology company Singa signed a deal with Warner Music Group to bring original master recordings from the label’s artists to the Singa platform (the agreement includes both Warner Chappell Music and Warner Recorded Music). “This game-changing deal allows karaoke singers at home and Singa-powered venues worldwide to perform songs by iconic Warner Music Group artists, all using the original backing tracks,” said Singa co-founder/CEO Atte Hujanen in a statement. This is Singa’s first deal with a major label, though it has previously secured deals with publishers and indie labels.
Sony Music India signed a joint venture with The Hello Group (THG) to form THG India. Through the deal, Sony Music India’s local reach will be paired with THG’s international touring and artist development network to help Indian artists thrive in the country’s growing live music ecosystem and beyond. THG India will offer comprehensive support for talent, including management, global concert booking and publishing, while Sony Music India will provide strategic investment and access to its creative and commercial platforms.
AEG Presents acquired Nashville-based special events production company Gary Musick Productions and the affiliated entity Destination Musick City. Gary Musick Productions will keep its name and continue providing corporate and social event services, including audio-visual production, scenic fabrication, custom set design, live streaming and branding integration. Destination Musick City will remain a destination management company offering immersive experiences and full meeting execution services for groups visiting Nashville. With the deal, Gary Musick Productions will expand its design and fabrication services to music festivals and concerts while giving its clients access to AEG’s network of venues.
Symphonic Distribution partnered with Hitmakers Entertainment, which boasts Australian pop and R&B artist Tash on its roster. Going forward, the two companies will support emerging and established artists from Australia and Southeast Asia. “This collaboration allows us to further expand Tash’s career as well as our continually growing roster with the help of Symphonic’s creative and strategic vision,” said Hitmakers boss Mark Feist in a statement.
New Sweden-based generative AI startup Songfox struck a deal with Musical AI, through which it will use Musical AI’s platform, containing fully cleared music catalogs, to train its models. Musical AI will provide full reports of what data contributed to each generated song, allowing Songfox to pay rightsholders. According to a press release, Songfox allows users to generate and “tweak” full songs, including AI-assisted lyrics and a library of licensed voices.
Concord Originals, the film and TV division of music company Concord, has acquired storied film studio RKO, giving the Nashville-based music company a wealth of opportunities to promote and capitalize on its publishing and recorded music catalog.
RKO is one of Hollywood’s oldest studios and produced numerous timeless films and TV productions from the ‘20s to ’50s, including King Kong, Citizen Kane, The Best Years of Our Lives, It’s a Wonderful Life, Suspicion and The Woman in the Window. Legendary industrialist Howard Hughes owned RKO for a brief stretch, buying the company in 1947 and selling it to General Rubber and Tire in 1955.
The acquisition covers derivative rights for remakes, sequels, stage productions and stories — “anything that someone with creative intent and with a little bit of sweat equity could theoretically turn into a project,” Concord CEO Bob Valentine tells Billboard. Concord’s deal for RKO gives it the opportunity “to develop new and interesting projects around that original IP,” Valentine explains. Turner Broadcasting System, now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, acquired the distribution rights to the original RKO library in 1987.
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RKO’s library includes what Valentine calls “some of the most seminal musicals” created in the mid-20th century, many of which have not yet been adapted for live performance. Among RKO’s musicals are films starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers such as Top Hat and Swing Time. “I wouldn’t underestimate the potential for theatrical development,” he says.
RKO will continue to operate as a standalone entity within Concord Originals after the transaction. Sophia Dilley, head of Concord Originals, and current RKO president Mary Beth O’Connor will run RKO has co-presidents. RKO chairman and CEO Ted Hartley will stay on as lead producer and chief storyteller of active RKO projects.
Dilley’s six-person team will expand to nine after the acquisition. RKO’s Brian Anderson will work across both companies as director of contract, administration and distribution, according to Dilley. As part of a recent restructuring at Concord Originals, Wesley Adams was upped to vp of production and distribution, Charlie Hopkins was promoted to vp of development and Imogen Lloyd Webber was given the new role of executive vp of marketing and communications of Concord Originals and Theatricals.
“Our plan will be to grow strategically, because a lot of these film companies grow too fast, they have overhead too fast,” says Dilley. “Our mission is to be really frugal and careful about how we put this together so that it’s set up for success long term.”
Concord Originals was founded in 2021 as an outgrowth of Concord’s realization that it could be “a more direct beneficiary” of derivative works that involved the company’s music rights, says Dilley. Among the productions by Concord Originals are Stax: Soulsville USA, a Peabody Award-winning, four-part HBO documentary that was co-produced with Polygram Entertainment and Warner Music Entertainment, and Let the Canary Sing, a documentary about singer Cyndi Lauper produced with Fine Point Films and Sony Music Entertainment. Concord Originals is also working on a biopic on blues legend Robert Johnson, whose publishing catalog is represented by Concord Music Publishing.
In addition, Concord Originals has a partnership with Skydance Entertainment and Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions to develop original projects. One such project is a limited series based on Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Rogers & Hammerstein’s catalog was acquired by Concord in 2017 through its purchase of Imagem Music Group.
Big Loud has sold a stake in Morgan Wallen‘s recording catalog to Chord Music Partners, Billboard has confirmed. “Big Loud has sold a minority stake in Morgan Wallen’s master recording catalog to Chord Music Partners, as part of a strategic investment to expand the label’s global footprint and fuel long-term artist development,” a Big Loud […]
Etsy has agreed to sell Reverb, an online marketplace for musical instruments and equipment, to Creator Partners, an investment firm founded by a former SoundCloud CEO, and Fender-owner Servco, the companies said on Tuesday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bought by Etsy in 2019 for $275 million, Reverb is used by fans to purchase collectibles like the recording console used to track the Beatles’ Abbey Road and Travis Barker’s drums, as well as regular guitars, pedals, keyboards and other music-related products.
The deal, which is expected to close in the coming weeks, will see U.S.-based music gear selling site return to its roots as an independently operated company backed by Creator Partners and Servco.
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Creator Partners is the investment company of former SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor, and it stakes in BMI, Colors+Studios, Mogul, as well as SoundCloud. Servco is the majority owner of guitar company Fender, which Creator Partners is also invested in. Reverb previously raised $25 million from a group of investors led by Summit Partners.
The deal for Reverb comes at a time when the threat of global tariffs has sparked fears of rising prices for music product imports, merchandise and other goods. In a blog post announcing the new ownership, Reverb CEO David Mandelbrot said the company plans to roll out a new option for sellers “that allows you to get paid faster and drop off your gear locally, without needing to create a listing or ship.” Reverb has other plans to expand its offerings of music-making software and to improve search, ship and help services on the website.
“Over the past five years, we’ve learned a lot from Etsy as we’ve expanded our community,” Mandelbrot wrote in the blog post. “As we look ahead, with a focus on growing the entire industry by helping more people buy and sell used music gear, we’re excited to align ourselves with two new partners who share our passion and focus.”
According to Mandlebrot, buyers and sellers using the website should not notice any disruption as the companies work toward closing this deal in the coming weeks, and Creator and Servco sought to assure Reverb users that Fender will not get preferential treatment on Reverb. Reverb’s partnership with Fender will stay the same, including Fender’s certified pre-owned program, which is one of 20 such offerings available on Reverb, the companies said.
Creator Partners’ Trainor said they are keen to invest in Reverb and its goal of growing “the entire industry through seamless secondhand commerce.”
Mark Fukunaga, executive chair of Servco, said his company has been invested in musical instruments and education for over 90 years. “We remain committed to being good stewards of leading musical instrument companies, like Reverb, and supporting players everywhere in pursuing their passion to create music.”
BEAT Music Fund, the dance music investment company from Armada Music Group, acquired the rights to “a large portion” of masters from DJ, producer and Turbo Recordings founder Tiga. The deal includes Tiga’s “Sunglasses at Night,” “Bugatti,” “You Gonna Want Me,” “Let’s Go Dancing” and “HAL” featuring Kölsch. BEAT previously signed catalog deals with Kevin Saunderson, Markus Schulz, Robbie Rivera, Jax Jones, Amba Shepherd, VIVa MUSiC, Sola Records, King Street Sounds, Chocolate Puma and others.
Hook, the AI-powered platform that allows users to legally remix songs by top artists while earning income from those remixes, closed an additional $3 million in funding, bringing the startup’s total funding to $6 million. This round includes new investments from Khosla Ventures, Kygo‘s Palm Tree Crew, and The Raine Group. Continued support came from existing investors including Imaginary Ventures, Steve Cohen‘s Point72 Ventures, KSHMR and Edgar Bronfman, Jr.‘s Waverley Capital. The investment will help accelerate Hook’s marketing efforts and hiring, with a focus on user acquisition.
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Japanese record label Teichiku Entertainment signed a distribution partnership with Believe for Japan and the rest of the world. Through the deal, the companies aim to expand Teichiku’s digital footprint by leveraging Believe’s global DSP network, technology and digital-first expertise to bring Japanese enka, kayōkyoku and pop music to a wider audience globally.
Indian record label and music publisher Times Music acquired Indian regional record labels Symphony Recording Co. and ARC Musicq. These are Times Music’s first acquisitions since Primary Wave Music invested in the company to speed up its growth worldwide. Symphony, described in a press release as “the undisputed leader of Tamil spiritual and devotional music,” has a catalog of more than 350 audio and 100 video albums and boasts YouTube views of nearly 2 billion, with revenue on the platform doubling in the past four years, according to the release. ARC Musicq, which has been distributed by Times Music since 2017, is a label specializing in Indian folk music and film soundtracks within the Kannada music market. ARC also boasts more than 2 billion views on YouTube, with revenue quadrupling in the last three years, according to the release.
Independent U.S.-based K-pop label hello82 struck a partnership with One Hundred Label, the Korean entertainment company behind THE BOYZ. Under the deal, hello82 is serving as the exclusive physical distributor for the group’s album Unexpected, which was released on March 17. To support the release, hello82 is erecting immersive fan experiences at its brick and mortar fan spaces in Los Angeles and Atlanta, and at pop-up shops in major markets including New York, Chicago and San Diego throughout March. Hello82 previously signed similar deals with KQ Entertainment (ATEEZ, hikers) and FNC Entertainment (P1Harmony).
Ninja Tune struck a licensing partnership with Reactional Music, the music personalization platform allowing real-time interactive music integration in gaming, automotive and digital environments. With the deal, Ninja Tune’s labels and publishing division, Just Isn’t Music, have licensed the rights to tracks from its catalog for use in Reactional’s music personalization engine and music delivery platform. Ninja Tune’s labels include Brainfeeder, Counter Records, Technicolor, Big Dada and Foreign Family Collective, which have collectively released music by Thundercat, Bonobo, Little Dragon, Run the Jewels, ODESZA, Peggy Gou and others. Reactional’s platform is now live on Unity and Unreal Engine. It is being used by developers and creators in Europe, the United States, China and Southeast Asia.
ADA, the independent music distribution and artist services arm of Warner Music Group (WMG), acquired music tech startup RSDL.io, which provides automated accounting and a simplified view of multiple revenue streams for artists and labels. Founded by tech executives Mike Holmes, Jim Sella and Bill Sella and music industry players Alex Brahl (S7 Management) and songwriter-producer Shep Goodman, RSDL.io lets users facilitate payments and manage splits and recoupments and “allows for multi-level artist and contributor payout functionality and insights,” according to a press release.
EMPIRE struck a multi-year partnership with sound separation and lyric transcription technology company AudioShake under which the San Francisco-based label will use AudioShake’s stem and lyric separation technologies to create stems and lyrics for its catalog. EMPIRE will use AudioShake’s AI to produce stems for use in synch licensing, immersive formats and new music licensing models.
Musical AI, the AI rights management platform for music and audio, is partnering with Nashville-based artist-model platform and VST plugin First Rule to build fully-licensed AI agents and models designed to support music makers. Through the deal, Musical AI will provide licensed training data to First Rule, which will use the data to train musical agents and models aimed at assisting artists and producers. Musical AI will also provide attribution technology and payment processing “to ensure First Rule can prioritize rightsholder consent, credit, and compensation,” according to a press release. Using this data, First Rule will train its proprietary models to ensure they are able to produce high-quality results. This will allow artists and producers to train their own “Musical Essence or M.E Models on their distinctive style and approach,” then license those models to others to use in First Rule’s Co-Writer, a generative AI-powered VST plugin the company is currently building that will work in any digital audio workstation.
Sony Music Entertainment India and Tiger Baby — the Indian production company formed by filmmakers Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti — formed Tiger Baby Records, a joint-venture music label dedicated to fostering emerging talent. For one of its first projects, the new label has partnered with jewelry brand Tanishq for a wedding song composed by Abhishek-Ananya and performed by Poorvi Koutish. It also recently released the soundtrack for Superboys of Malegaon, a film based on the life of filmmaker Nasir Shaikh, that was composed by Sachin-Jigar and written by Javed Akhtar. Tiger Baby Records will additionally release original music curated by Ankur Tewari that will spotlight emerging artists and launch a “City Sessions” initiative with Mumbai’s Island City Studios in which singer-songwriters will be offered the opportunity to refine their craft, collaborate with established artists and more.
Universal Music Group (UMG) and HEAT — a new marketplace connecting animators, game developers and 3D artists with a trove of motion data and music — formed a collaborative initiative involving Lil Wayne and CG5 that will make licensed tracks from both artists available to game developers for the first time. Beginning May 1, Lil’ Wayne tracks “Uproar” and “GO DJ” and CG5 tracks “I See A Dreamer,” “Sleep Well,” “Let Me In” and “Dancin’” will be available through the HEAT platform, allowing game creators to integrate those tracks into their projects.
Secretly Distribution struck a global distribution deal with Invada Records, a U.K.-based independent label co-owned by musician, producer and composer Geoff Barrow (Portishead, BEAK >) and his longtime business partner Redg Weeks. Invada has released music by artists including DROKK, The KVB, Jeremy Gara (Arcade Fire), BEAK >, Divide And Dissolve, Anika, Billy Nomates, Gazelle Twin, Colin Stetson, Sleafords Mods, TVAM, Benefits and Julian Cope. It has additionally released scores for films, TV shows and video games including Stranger Things, Drive, Ex Machina, Solaris, Red Dead Redemption 2, Hannibal, Dark, Annihilation and Black Mirror.
Sweet Relief Musicians Fund and Sweetwater launched The Hearing Health Fund at Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which will provide support for the growing number of music professionals who face hearing-related challenges, including hearing loss and tinnitus. According to research cited in a press release, seven in 10 music venue staff are exposed to noise levels above the daily recommended limit, while only 15% reported using hearing protection on a regular basis. Through the fund, professionals can receive a free, three-part hearing screening with a certified audiologist and free Etymotic Research ER-20XS High Fidelity Earplugs. Music pros can navigate here to apply for the Hearing Health Fund.
Music technology company Audoo partnered with German performing rights society GEMA on GEMA’s music impact study, which aimed to quantify the commercial value of background music in gastronomy and retail spaces. The study used Audoo’s audio meters — or music recognition hardware — that the company had installed in hundreds of venues. Overall, it found that the use of background music increased retail sales by an average of 8% and gastronomic sales by an average of 5.4%. More information on the research can be found here.
Rhino Staging, which provides stagecraft and rigging crews across the U.S., acquired ROC Rigging, a provider of special event rigging services for entertainment, corporate and private events in the Palm Springs, Calif., area. Matt Talley, the founder/CEO of ROC Rigging, along with the company’s management team, will remain in place as the company integrates with Rhino.
UnitedMasters partnered with The Coca-Cola Company for an event to be held this month in São Paulo celebrating Brazil’s independent music scene. The two companies have also selected independent artist Alee to perform at Coke Studio at Lollapalooza Brasil, in addition to Zudizilla, who will perform on the main stage.
The digital media and ecommerce company Infinite Reality announced that it acquired the streamer Napster for $207 million on Tuesday (March 25). This marks the third time Napster has changed hands in the last five years.
“With Infinite Reality’s expertise in immersive 3D technology, we will transform Napster into a next-generation platform where fans don’t just listen on their own — they experience music in entirely new ways,” Napster CEO Jon Vlassopulos said in a statement. “This isn’t just a new chapter for Napster, it’s the beginning of a more interactive and social music experience for the next era of the internet.”
Working with Napster, Infinite Reality aims to provide artists with the tools to create 3D virtual spaces and sell physical and virtual merchandise. “Imagine stepping into a virtual venue to watch an exclusive show with friends,” said Vlassopulos, or to “chat with your favorite artist in their own virtual hangout as they drop their new single.” Vlassopulos previously served as head of music at Roblox, which has offered similar experiences to artists and labels.
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Infinite Reality has been expanding rapidly in recent years, reporting that it spent around $800 million on acquisitions in 2024 alone. The company’s goal is “lead an internet industry shift from a flat 2D clickable web to a 3D conversational one,” according to Infinite Reality CEO John Acunto.
The spending spree has continued this year. In January, Infinite Reality announced that it had raised $3 billion. A few weeks later, it acquired the company Obsess, which has worked on 3D digital stores and experiences for brands like Ralph Lauren, Crate & Barrel, and J.Crew. Napster is Infinite Reality’s latest target.
Napster famously launched in 1999 as a file-sharing service that allowed users to download tracks for free. It later became a licensed streaming service, albeit a small one: It had a little more than 1 million monthly active users at the end of 2020, according to Music Ally.
That year, the virtual reality concert app MelodyVR bought Napster for $70 million. Hivemind Capital Partners and cryptocurrency company Algorand became the streamer’s new owners in 2022.
In an interview after that acquisition, Vlassopulos said he hoped Napster could foster “much more of [a] community experience” and not just be “a transactional consumption vehicle.”
Infinite Reality’s Acunto echoed that rhetoric this week. “I firmly believe that the artist-fan relationship is evolving,” he said in a statement. “Fans [are] craving hyper-personalized, intimate access to their favorite artists, while artists are searching for innovative ways to deepen connections with fans, and access new streams of revenue.”
Private equity firm Silver Lake has completed its acquisition of 100% of the stock of sports and entertainment giant Endeavor to take the company private in a deal that values it at $25 billion, the firm announced on Monday (March 24).
As part of the deal, Endeavor stockholders will receive $27.50 in cash per share, which represents a 55% premium to the company’s closing price of $17.72 on Oct. 25, 2023 — the day before Endeavor announced Silver Lake’s plans to take the company private.
Endeavor, which owns the talent agency WME, marketing agency 160over90, brand licensing agency IMG Licensing and more, will be renamed WME Group. Endeavor is the largest company in the media and entertainment sector ever to be taken private by a private equity sponsor, Silver Lake said in a press release.
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Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban said his firm has never sold a share in Endeavor since its first investment in the company in 2012, and over that time, Endeavor’s “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 added.
Endeavor founder and former CEO Ari Emmanuel will move into the role of executive chairman of WME Group. On Monday, Emmanuel cashed out a portion of his ownership stake in the company for $173.8 million, per a regulatory filing first reported by Variety. Patrick Whitesell, who was previously executive chairman of Endeavor/WME received a $100 million payout, Variety reported.
Following the deal Endeavor will hold on to its majority stake in TKO Group Holdings, a separately traded sports and entertainment company whose assets include wrestling promotor WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship. The valuation of $25 billion includes TKO’s assets.
In addition to WME, 160over90 and IMG, Endeavor’s portfolio includes Pantheon Media Group, live event hospitality firm On Location and sports betting data firm OpenBet.
Led by co-CEOs Durban and Greg Mondre, Silver Lake has $104 billion in combined assets under management, and its portfolio includes stakes in companies including Oak View Group, Fanatics, TEG, Waymo, Stripe, Plaid, SoFi and Madison Square Garden Sports.
