Endeavor has confirmed that they have reached an agreement to acquire 51 percent of WWE. As part of the agreement, they will set up a new publicly traded company. The assertion delivered to the media affirms that the parent organization of the UFC will possess 51% of WWE, with the rest set to be with the games diversion organization’s investors. The company is valued at $9.3 billion in the Monday-signed transaction agreement.
Nick Khan will be WWE’s president following the merger, and the new board of directors will be announced at a later date. Endeavor will have six seats on the new board, while WWE will have five. CNBC reported last night that the WWE-UFC merger was at an advanced stage, confirming previous reports that it had been widely rumored for several weeks.
The 39th WrestleMania, WWE’s annual two-day event, was recently completed in Hollywood. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn defeated The Usos to win the Undisputed Tag Team Championship on the show’s first night. In the meantime, Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes in a remarkable main event match on night two to keep his Undisputed Universal Championship.
Following the merger, the sports entertainment company’s transformation will be fascinating to watch.
Portions of WWE fell in premarket exchanging, while Try shares rose.
An earlier CNBC report was confirmed by the announcement. Additionally, it occurred a day after WrestleMania, WWE’s flagship live event, was concluded in California. The company has been looking for a buyer for several months. In January, McMahon returned to the business as chairman to oversee the process. As of Friday’s closing bell, WWE’s shares had increased by more than 33% this year, giving it a market value of more than $6.79 billion.
Two of the world’s biggest sports and entertainment brands would work together under the agreement. The organizations appear to be a good fit in terms of content and culture, despite the fact that they have some notable differences, such as WWE’s scripted matches and storylines that are reminiscent of soap operas, and the UFC’s authentically brutal mixed martial arts fighting. Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey, two of the UFC fighters, have wrestled for WWE previously.
Conor McGregor, the UFC champion and superstar, praised the news of the pending deal on Sunday evening. Incredible. Wow, what a force!” He said that in one tweet, and then he sent another tweet with a picture of him holding WWE and UFC championship belts.
WWE’s decades-long run as a family business will also come to an end with a merger. In its initial form, WWE was founded by McMahon’s father in the middle of the 20th century. McMahon, who acquired the business from his father in 1982, holds the majority stake.
Following a series of revelations that he paid several women millions of dollars over the course of several years to keep them quiet about alleged affairs and misconduct, McMahon, 77, retired from the company in July. Along with Khan, his daughter Stephanie McMahon became co-CEO. Vince McMahon was replaced as creative director by Paul Levesque, the wrestler known as Triple H and husband of Stephanie McMahon.