United States: Endeavor (IMG, On Location) to be acquired by investment fund Silver Lake ($13bn)

The investment fund Silver Lake is to acquire the American sports and entertainment company Endeavor for $13bn (€12bn as at 05/04/2024), announced the two parties on 02/04/2024.

Endeavor is a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) since 2021. "The transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals. No other stockholder approval is required. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2025," said the two companies.

TKO, a joint venture formed in April 2023 combining the UFC (owned by Endeavor) and WWE businesses, "is not party to this transaction and will remain a publicly traded company. Silver Lake believes that when consolidating all of TKO's value into Endeavor, the combined total enterprise value of $25bn (€23bn) will make this the largest private equity sponsor public-to-private investment transaction in over a decade, and the largest ever in the media and entertainment sector."

Endeavor owns a number of entities active in the sports sector, including IMG (a global sports…