acquisitions
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The $2.3 billion sale of ASM Global, the facility management firm that manages venues like Soldier Field in Chicago and the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, finally closed today, a full 10 months after it was announced that Legends was purchasing the firm from AEG and Canadian private equity firm Onex. The lengthy delay was the result of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Legends for allegedly violating anti-trust regulations during its review of the deal, recently disclosed documents show, which led to Legends paying a $3.5 million civil fine.
According to court records in the Southern District of New York — the same court where Live Nation is fighting a historic antitrust case against the DOJ — officials with Legends allegedly “assumed unlawful control over ASM” during a statutory waiting period that required “Legends and ASM to continue to operate as separate and independent entities while the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice reviewed the acquisition.”
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According to a DOJ complaint, Legends won the right to manage a new arena project in San Diego that had been formerly managed by ASM Global. After winning the contract, Legends assigned some of the responsibility of the contract to ASM, despite not having completed the pre-merger review or received approval from the DOJ.
In August 2023, Legends officials again allegedly violated DOJ rules that the two firms act as separate companies when they bid for a contract in North Carolina to manage an existing entertainment complex. According to the DOJ complaint, “a senior Legends executive emailed Legends’ then-CEO noting, ‘I assume we would rather have ASM chase this?’ The then-CEO informed another executive, ‘we will find out if ASM is bidding as don’t want to both be bidding,’ and set a calendar reminder for himself tospeak with a senior ASM executive about the North Carolina RFP.” The DOJ alleges that Legends and ASM also illegally shared information on two other projects they were bidding for.
Legends was accused of violating the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and agreed to pay a $3.5 million fine, “an amount that is less than the maximum penalty permitted,” government documents reveal, noting “a lower penalty is appropriate because of Legends’ demonstrated willingness to take corrective internal action and fight allegations in court, avoiding “the costs associated with a prolonged investigation and litigation.”
Under the agreement, Legends must “appoint an antitrust compliance officer at its expense, to conduct compliance training, to certify compliance with the Final Judgment, to maintain a whistleblower protection policy, and to provide the United States inspection and interview rights to assess compliance with the Final Judgment,” the documents read.
The sale of ASM Global to Legends got rolling last year after Canadian private equity firm Onex notified AEG of its plans to sell its 35% stake in ASM. Instead of buying out Onex, AEG agreed to put the entire company up for sale. On Nov. 3, Onex and AEG jointly announced that Legends was buying ASM, creating the country’s leading venue management company.
Representatives for Legends and ASM Global did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The next era of Legends starts now,” said Dan Levy, CEO of Legends, in a press release issued Friday (Aug. 23). Global investment firm Sixth Streets owns majority control of Legends, with minority stakes held by subsidiaries of the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys. Levy, who previously worked at Meta, became CEO of Legends in April.
Ron Bension, ASM Global president/CEO, added, “One of our ASM Global mantras for a number of years has been ‘the future is now.’ By joining Legends, that future has not only arrived, but it couldn’t be brighter. The opportunities created by our companies’ collective capabilities will elevate not only the success of our partners, clients, and projects worldwide, but the industry as a whole.”
Founded in 2008, Legends now has 400 clients under management including Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Caesars Superdome in New Orleans and OVO Arena Wembley in London. ASM Global will continue to operate under its current name for now.
Moelis & Company LLC and BofA Securities, Inc. served as financial advisors to Legends, while Ropes & Gray LLP and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP served as its legal counsel. Goldman Sachs and Jefferies served as financial advisors to ASM Global, while Latham & Watkins LLP, Hogan Lovells and Arnold & Porter served as its legal counsel.
Investment giant Apollo Global Management is backing Sony Music Group to the tune of $700 million to help the company fund music acquisitions, it was announced Friday (July 26). The deal could provide the financial assistance needed for Sony’s planned acquisition of Queen‘s recording and music publishing catalogs. Sources have told Billboard the band is […]
Ticketmaster partnered with Shazam for a deal allowing artists to link to their Ticketmaster-listed events directly in the Shazam app. Through that integration, Shazam users will be able to see where that artist is playing and buy tickets to their show “with just a few clicks” after Shazaming their music, according to a Ticketmaster blog post. The ticketing giant previously announced similar integrations with TikTok and Snapchat.
Fraud detection company Beatdapp Software partnered with Beatport, a digital service that offers high-quality downloads for DJs to use in live sets, in a deal that aims to banish fraudulent activities on Beatport by integrating Beatdapp’s fraud detection technology into the platform. “We launched streaming products under the Beatport and Beatsource brands in 2019, and despite the fact that they have not historically been a target for streaming fraud, suspicious activity has been on the rise in recent months,” said Helen Sartory, chief revenue officer of The Beatport Group, in a statement. “Although our fraud rates still remain half that of the industry average, we rely on accurate streaming data not only to preserve fair compensation to artists and labels, but also for track recommendations and analytics. We are excited to be able to work with Beatdapp to ensure that our data is representative of authentic listener engagement.”
Virgin Music Group announced a “strategic relationship” with Frontier Works, a Japanese animation-related content production company, to release anime music projects. Virgin will provide Frontier Works with access to its music distribution and marketing platform and global team to support Frontier releases worldwide. This includes Virgin’s AI-driven music marketing technology, which filters streaming data “to create dynamic and actionable insights,” as well as “Smart Audience,” an advertising platform that uses “ethical AI” to increase fan engagement and help drive streaming consumption, according to a press release.
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Believe acquired a 25% stake in Global Records, an independent dance music company covering Central and Eastern Europe, and signed a strategic partnership with the label. The acquisition expands Believe and Global Records’ existing relationship, which since 2016 has allowed the latter to ramp up its territorial expansion and catalog development, according to a press release. Global Records’ catalog racked up more than 6 billion streams across all platforms last year alone and has seen more than 20 billion streams to date, the release adds. Global’s roster includes INNA, Minelli, Carla’s Dreams, Antonia and Holy Molly; it has offices in Germany, Romania and the United States.
Artist manager Matt Musacchio‘s Champ Management partnered with Red Light Management in a deal that brings Vincent Mason, Jessie James Decker and Dawson Anderson to the Red Light roster. Kyle Marsh will also join the Red Light team as a day-to-day manager.
ASM Global expanded its reach into Portugal by taking on the operation of two venue spaces located in Lisbon’s LX Factory, which is located inside a converted factory complex in the Alcantara area. ASM Global will additionally manage the venues’ adjacent outdoor bar, terrace and gallery spaces.
Web3 creator platform DRiP acquired limited-edition music platform Vault Music. Both platforms are on the Solana blockchain. Under the deal, all Vault Music drops and users will transition to the DRiP platform. “Vault was our first music partner on DRiP,” said CEO Vibhu Norby in a statement on the acquisition. “They did a phenomenal job harboring musicians from outside of the existing ecosystem, and we’re excited to help them continue that effort.”
ADA Canada signed a global distribution deal with country music label MCM Recordings, which is home to Jess Moskaluke, Charlie Major and The Redhill Valleys.
The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) extended its agreement with the International Copyright Enterprise (ICE) for several more years. According to a press release, the extended deal “will facilitate faster royalty payments to IMRO members for online performances of their works and enhanced usage transparency.” The release claims IMRO’s online revenue saw 30% growth in 2023.
Independent dance music label Armada Music signed a long-term partnership with Amsterdam-based DJ and producer KI/KI and her self-founded label, slash. Armada will work with KI/KI and her team on A&R, label management, distribution and promotion/marketing for upcoming slash releases. The first release under the joint venture is KI/KI’s latest EP, slash 010.
The consortium acquiring French music company Believe has acquired 85.04% of share capital and 73.27% of voting rights in a tender offer that ends Friday (June 21). Believe owns digital distributor TuneCore, publishing administration service Sentric and such record labels as Naive, Nuclear Blast and Groove Attack. The bidding company is a consortium led by […]
WMT Digital has acquired Aloompa, a leading mobile app provider for live event experiences.
Drew Burchfield, who co-founded Aloompa in 2008, will board WMT Digital as a vp, with his entire team also joining the company. WMT focuses on technology solutions for fan engagement, storytelling, data applications and revenue platforms.
“We started in 2012 as a tech consultancy and evolved into a tech integrator model, and then eventually a digital platform and a tech provider,” says Andres Focil, founder/CEO of WMT Digital. “The goal of the business was to think about ways that we can unlock storytelling through technology. Today platforms are going more modular, flexible and scalable and really shifting from traditional content into much more dynamic storytelling content and we spend a lot of time thinking about like finding product market fit and creating specific use cases for organizations that fit their particular market.”
Traditionally, WMT has worked in the collegiate and professional sports space while Aloompa has a major foothold in the live music and festival space.
“There’s so much cross opportunity between the entertainment space and the sports space and the larger event space,” Focil notes, pointing to one of the company’s clients, Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, as an example.
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“It’s a multi-tenant venue with four different teams that also hosts a lot of events, including concerts,” Focil says. “So when we built out their application, we were thinking about ways that we can store their tickets, if you’re a season ticket holder for a particular team or you are attending a concert, and from there we really started trying to understand how to cross-sell and upsell and then create synergies between the two. We’ve started exploring the market and found that Aloompa is the premium solution in the music space and we started having discussions” that led to an eventual deal.
“I think the thing that’s super exciting here between Andres’ vision and the greater team’s vision is that what is being built is a vertical stack of solutions for an event or for a team that puts data in the center,” Burchfield said. “For events and festivals, the power is in tools that leverage all the touch points of a fan, which is really the ultimate long-term solution. And I would say that approximately 70% of those pieces are now in place with our two companies coming together. And we’re going to be attacking the market in that way.”
Aloompa will operate as a standalone brand, based in Nashville, within the “FanOS” product category of WMT. The combined companies will continue to support existing partners and customers while bringing new offerings to market designed to solve client-related challenges.
Milk & Honey Music + Sports + Ventures has acquired VMG Sports, the boutique sports agency that’s home to Kansas City tight end, three-time Super Bowl winner and Taylor Swift love interest Travis Kelce along with 14 other NFL players. In a deal broked by Milk & Honey president/founding partner Lucas Keller and VMG agents […]
MediaCo Holding has acquired all of Estrella Media’s network, content, digital and commercial operations, the company announced on Thursday (April 18). According to a press release, the transaction — which closed April 17 — will see Estrella Media brands join MediaCo. These include the EstrellaTV network’s linear and digital video content business, Estrella Media’s digital […]
Cutting Edge Group (“CEG” or the “Group”), an investor in and manager of niche media music rights encompassing more than 2,000 titles across soundtrack albums, completed a $500 million debt refinancing with four banks led by Fifth Third Bank and Northleaf Capital Partners. The new credit facility will be used for corporate purposes as well as the acquisition of music rights from the roughly $1.5 billion pipeline of possible investments already identified by Cutting Edge.
“Cutting Edge has become a world leading music partner to the film and tv industries,” said Philip Moross, CEO of Cutting Edge Group, in a statement. “During that time, the structural trends driving our industries have accelerated exponentially, delivering a proliferation of digital platforms and content, matched by an increase in demand for media music usage. Prior to the pandemic, we identified a similar opportunity in the global wellness market, which is now projected to grow at 10% per annum to a US$7 trillion market by 2025. This refinancing will enable us to execute our growth strategy to take full advantage of these trends in our usual disciplined way.”
TikTok partnered with global ticketing platform AXS, enabling certified artists on the social platform to use its in-app ticketing feature to promote their AXS live dates while allowing fans to buy tickets for events through AXS within TikTok.
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Universal Music Greater China (UMGC) struck a new strategic agreement with TF Entertainment, the company behind Chinese idols TFBOYS and Teens In Times. Under the deal, UMGC will handle global distribution of TF’s roster, targeting markets outside Mainland China.
ASM Global Acts, the corporate social responsibility platform of ASM Global, partnered with reuse platform r.World to introduce reusable service ware — including reusable cups and food containers — in venues throughout the company’s North American portfolio, beginning with the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center and select hospitality locations at the forthcoming Acure Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif.
Audacy and Super Hi-Fi, which provides AI-powered radio services for broadcast and digital media companies, announced an expanded partnership that will streamline Audacy’s digital content programming, production and broadcasting processes “while creating stickier listener environments and more opportunities for advertisers to engage with them,” according to a press release. Audacy additionally announced that five of its highest-rated HD radio stations are transitioning to use Super Hi-Fi’s program director radio operating system, allowing programmers and staff to spend less time on production. The stations include WWBX-HD2 in Boston, WLKK-HD2 in Buffalo, KILT-HD2 in Houston, KROQ-HD2 in Los Angeles and KNRK-HD2 in Portland.
Leading classical music artist agencies IMG Artists and TACT Artists Management formed a strategic alliance through which their vocal departments will work together to pool expertise and resources. With the partnership, the companies hope to ensure a broader international network for their rosters, among other benefits.
Sony Music‘s global podcast division acquired podcast production company Neon Hum, whose founder/CEO Jonathan Hirsch joins Sony Music as vp of global podcasts/head of U.S. creative. Sony will utilize Neon Hum’s production expertise to continue developing podcasts for its subscription channel, The Binge, and across its entertainment slate. Sony will also expand its work-for-hire business to provide more services beyond audio production for its client and branded podcasts. Before the acquisition, Sony made a strategic investment in Neon Hum in 2019, with the two jointly launching podcasts including Dinners on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Smoke Screen and My Fugitive Dad.
Merlin announced a licensing deal with streaming platform Audiomack, giving Merlin members access to Audiomack’s listenership. Merlin members will now also be able to claim their artists’ Audiomack accounts, enabling them to send messages to their fans and more. The deal encompasses Audiomod, a new Audiomack tool that allows fans to customize their listening experience via pre-set filters including “sped up,” “slowed down,” “nightcore” and “daycore” and/or custom listening filters they create themselves.
Secretly announced new distribution deals with Jazz Is Dead and its sister label, Linear Labs. Founded by Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest), Andrew Lojero and Adam Block, Jazz Is Dead is dedicated to “honoring the legacies of musical heroes and luminaries,” according to a a press release, having released albums by Rob Ayers, Lonnie Liston Smith and more. Linear Labs focuses on “new progressive music” and has worked with artists including Ghostface Killah, The Delfonics and Angela Muñoz while releasing scores and soundtracks for CBS, Hulu and Netflix. Past and future releases on both labels will now be distributed by Secretly.
Image-Line — the developer of popular digital audio workstation (DAW) FL Studio and FL Cloud — acquired MSXII Sound Design, a manufacturer of sample packs and sonic tools. MSX’s more than 200G sample library is now available to FL Studio users through FL Cloud.
Udio, a new platform developed by former Google DeepMind researchers that allows users to create music using AI using text prompts and then share their creations with the app’s community of users for feedback and collaboration, has raised a seed funding round from investors incluidng a16z, Instagram co-founder/chief technology officer Mike Krieger, will.i.am, Common, Kevin Wall, Tay Keith, UnitedMasters and Oriol Vinyals, head of Gemini at Google.
Entertainment, hospitality and investment holding company Palm Tree Crew — founded by Kygo and Myles Shear — closed a strategic investment in Medium Rare, valuing the company at $50 million. Medium Rare partners with artists, celebrities and athletes to create live entertainment properties; examples include Travis Kelce’s Kelce Jam and Guy Fieri’s Flavortown Tailgate. As part of the deal, Medium Rare will partner on select events and festivals within the Palm Tree Crew holding company. The two companies will also work together on developing new festivals and live experiences.
Oak View Group signed a partnership with the University of Kansas to be the stadium operator for the Gateway District — the future home of Kansas Football and convention center events and conferences — and the reimagined David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Oak View Group will additionally manage food and beverage services and suite catering for all Kansas Athletics venues. It will oversee the day-to-day operations of both the football stadium and conference center when the first phase of the Gateway District opens in August 2025, leading bookings of conference events, concerts and more. Oak View Group will additionally play a key role in the current Allen Fieldhouse upgrades, managing all food and beverage and hospitality in the arena.
AI-driven funding platform beatBread partnered with Kobalt Music Group for publishing administration in the United States and amra for digital licensing and collections internationally. The agreements allow beatBread to extend its existing funding of publishing rights to artists who are currently unpublished and under-collecting their performance and mechanical revenues.
Entertainment company NTERTAIN and The Official Latino Film Festival merged to form the NVISION Film & Music Festival. The festival will feature a mix of film screenings, music performances, art exhibitions, technology showcases and conference-style panels and presentation. It’s set to take place Oct. 10-12 at the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Springs, Calif.
The city council of McKinney, Tex. approved the development of the Sunset Amphitheater being built in the town by Notes Live. The agreement includes a public-private partnership between Notes Live, the city, the McKinney Economic Development Corporation and the McKinney Community Development Corporation. The project is estimated to be bringing in more than 1,300 direct and indirect jobs to the community, with an economic impact of around $3 billion to the area over the first 10 years.
Musically Fed, which redistributes surplus backstage and VIP meals to veterans and those facing homelessness and food insecurity in the United States, will once again partner with Live Nation-Hewitt Silva (LNHS) to handle surplus catering at forthcoming LNHS events at the Hollywood Bowl. The organization will also re-team with TaDa! Events to repurpose unused catering for communities in need via several L.A. nonprofits.
Feed.fm partnered with AI company Cyanite for AI-based tagging and music search to enhance discoverability on its platform. Under the deal, Feed.fm will use Cyanite’s technology to enhance the metadata Feed.fm’s compliance and recommendation engine uses to stream curated music for each listener.
The estate of Ronnie Spector, best known as the lead singer of iconic girl group The Ronettes, has enlisted Artist Legacy Group (ALG) to be its exclusive representative. Under the deal, ALG will provide comprehensive management services for the estate, including oversight of Spector’s personality rights and administration of her official digital and social media assets. ALG CEO Ashley Austin will also spearhead branded media, licensing and anniversary projects. A film adaptation of Spector’s memoir, Be My Baby, is currently in development at A24. Spector’s husband, Jonathan Greenfield, serves as managing director of the estate.
Lil Yachty launched Concrete Rekordz, a new record label joint venture with Quality Control Music/HYBE. The announcement was accompanied by “Family Business,” a new track and music video from Concrete Boys — a group composed of Lil Yachty, Karrahbooo and Camo! — that will make its home on the label. The group is slated to release its first compilation album, It’s Us Volume 1, on Friday (April 5).
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Dubai-based streaming platform OSN+ and music streaming service Anghami announced the completion of OSN+’s purchase of a majority stake in Anghami after receiving all necessary regulatory approvals. First announced in November, the merger puts OSN+ parent company OSN Group’s majority stake in Anghami at a valuation of $3.69 per share. According to a press release, the deal creates a company that boasts more than 120 million registered users, around 2.5 million paid subscribers and nearly $100 million in revenue at closing while bringing together OSN+’s library of 18,000 hours of video content with Anghami’s catalog of more than 100 million songs and podcasts. The combined entity will be led by Elie Habib, co-founder/CEO of Anghami, as CEO. Joe Kawkabani will remain CEO of OSN Group.
Virgin Music Group has partnered with 3AM Entertainment, a new label founded by British-Indian artist Jay Sean, producer/executive Jeremy Skaller and Jared Cotter, manager/vp of music at Range Media Partners. 3AM will focus on artists from the South Asian diaspora of all different genres. The first release under the deal is “Heartless,” a new single from Jay Sean featuring Ikky that’s slated for release on Friday (April 5); it will be followed by an album. Skaller and Cotter will serve as co-presidents at the new label, with Cotter continuing in his role at Range. Elsewhere, Sean’s longtime manager, Thara Natalie, will be chief operations manager; Madison Bickel will serve as GM; and Mahima Sharma will serve as an A&R out of New Delhi, India. Additionally, Sean’s co-manager, Aayushman Sinha, and his team at management company Represent will consult on A&R and strategy out of Mumbai, India.
Soundmouse by Orfium was selected as the official music reporting partner for broadcasters in South Korea by the South Korean Broadcast Music Identifying System (BROMIS), a consortium led by major broadcasters including KBS, MBC, SBS and four collecting societies. Under the three-year agreement, Soundmouse by Orfium’s music cue sheet reporting and audio recognition fingerprinting technology will be used by 36 broadcasters to track music usage across 175 TV channels and radio stations in Korea. Soundmouse by Orfium’s reports will be used to inform royalty distributions to songwriter, artist, producer and rights holder members of South Korean collecting societies. The deal was supported by the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Copyright Commission.
Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) acquired two music festivals: Rocklahoma and Born & Raised, both of which are held at Rockin Red Dirt Ranch in Pryor, Okla. DWP will continue working with Pryor Creek Music Festivals, the original creator of both festivals, while several remaining stakeholders will remain involved in both events in 2024 and beyond. This year’s Rocklahoma is slated to run from Aug. 30-Sept. 1 with headliners Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed and Slipknot. Born & Raised will take place Sept. 13-15 with Turnpike Troubadours, Whiskey Myers, Gary Allan and more.
BMG has acquired Dr. Alban‘s recorded interests in his catalog, including ’90s Eurodance hits “It’s My Life” and “Sing Hallelujah!” The company already owned the label share of the recordings. The catalog of the Nigerian-born Swedish artist and producer, born Alban Nwapa, also includes tracks such as “Hello Afrika” and “No Coke.”
Numero Group announced a partnership with New York indie rock label Tiger Style Records. Under the deal, Tiger Style’s catalog of 40 albums and a dozen EPs have been absorbed into the Numero Group ecosystem, including works by The American Analog Set, The Appleseed Cast, The Mercury Program, Tristeza, Her Space Holiday, The Album Leaf, Rye Coalition and Ida. Formed in 1998, Tiger Style, once owned by online music retailer Insound, went on hiatus more than 20 years ago. Much of the label’s discography is now available digitally via Numero Group, with several physical LP reissues and box sets slated for next year.
Industrial-focused private equity firm Allied Industrial Partners made an investment in Celebrity Coaches, a Nashville-based provider of transportation and logistics for the live entertainment sector. Celebrity Coaches will continue to be led by its founder, Jeff Michael, who will retain an ownership stake along with other members of the company’s management team including Josh Trivett.
ASM Global signed a multi-year booking agreement with Nevada tavern and slot route operator Golden Entertainment for exclusive booking rights to the company’s Laughlin Event Center and The Edge Pavilion — two music venues located at the Edgewater Casino Resort.
Music data company Musixmatch partnered with Runway in a deal that will bring the latter’s AI-powered media generation technology to the more than 1 million artists and musicians in the Musixmatch community, which will have access to Gen-2 and other Runway models to create synchronized lyrics and videos.
WavMaker, a music licensing platform that offers a music catalog for video creators featuring songs that have been cleared for commercial use, launched with $5 million in seed funding. The company was founded by CEO Matt Arcaini, director of label services Mark Stuart and director of marketing Caleb Grimm. The funding round was led by Vicky Patel, a principal in the Nashville-based record label Wavy Records and co-founder/principal at Monarch Media. The funds will be used to expand the platform’s capabilities, hire staff and increase customer outreach.
Business-to-business music and streaming platform Tuned Global partnered with international travel media network Spafax, which provides content technology and media assets for airlines to power cleared music playlists in in-flight entertainment systems. Spafax clients include Emirates, Qatar Airways, IAG, Lufthansa Group and Air Canada. Through the deal, Tuned Global will provide music-as-a-service a content management tool for Spafax curators to generate playlists. Spafax will also benefit from Tuned Global’s integration with music rights management and reporting company Crunch Digital, which verifies musical works available for use under Spafax and airlines’ existing music licenses with record labels and publishers.
Endeavor, the sports and entertainment giant that owns agencies WME and IMG, announced on Tuesday it will be acquired by private equity firm Silver Lake in a deal that values the company at $13 billion. The move arrives three years into Endeavor’s tenure as a publicly traded company and just six months since WME’s chief rival, CAA, came under new ownership.
Silver Lake is Endeavor’s largest shareholder, having made its initial investment in WME in 2012 and purchasing IMG two years later, and plans on acquiring 100% of the remaining shares by offering stockholders $27.50 per share in cash, representing a 55% premium to the unaffected share price of $17.72 per share. Endeavor noted that was the price of shares on Oct. 25, 2023, a day before the company disclosed a review of strategic alternatives that included going private.
The company, which went public in 2021 following pandemic-era delays, currently trades as EDR on the New York Stock Exchange, closing at $25.81 on Tuesday (April 2).
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In addition to WME and IMG, Endeavor’s portfolio includes live event hospitality firm On Location, marketing agency 160over90 and sports betting data firm OpenBet. Endeavor is also the majority owner of TKO Group Holdings, formed last year to merge its martial arts league UFC with World Wrestling Entertainment. TKO is not part of the Silver Lake acquisition, however, and will continue trading on the NYSE as “TKO” and “will continue to benefit from its connectivity to Endeavor’s expertise, relationships, and significant capabilities,” the company clarified.
Led by co-CEOs Egon Durban and Greg Mondre, Silver Lake’s $102 billion in combined assets includes a portfolio of companies like Oak View Group, Fanatics, TEG, Waymo, Stripe, Plaid, SoFi and Madison Square Garden Sports, among others.
Endeavor said the transaction is fully financed through equity from Silver Lake and additional capital from partnering investors, including Mubadala Investment Company, DFO Management, Lexington Partners, and funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Members of Endeavor’s leadership team, including chief executive Ari Emanuel, executive chairman Patrick Whitesell and president and COO Mark Shapiro, will also roll over their equity, and new debt financing was secured by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America and other institutions.
“Since 2012, Endeavor’s strategic partnership with Silver Lake and Egon Durban have been central to our evolution into the global sports and entertainment leader we are today,” said Emanuel. “We believe this transaction will maximize value for all of Endeavor’s public stockholders and are excited to continue to unlock and invest in the growth opportunities ahead as a private company.”
Stephen Evans, managing director of Silver Lake and a director of Endeavor, said: “The team at Silver Lake is proud of our longstanding partnership with Endeavor, marked by more than $3.5 billion of direct investment across six distinct transactions over 12 years. We are excited about what we can achieve together in this next phase, spearheaded by Endeavor’s visionary expertise across talent representation and content and ownership of truly special, marquee assets in sports.”