Private equity firm Silver Lake to take entertainment company Endeavor private at $27.50 a share

Private equity firm Silver Lake introduced Tuesday that it is buying entertainment company Endeavor Group Holdings for $27.50 a share.

Endeavor’s inventory rose greater than 2% Tuesday afternoon after a temporary halt forward of the announcement. It was buying and selling slightly below $26 per share.

Silver Lake will purchase 100% of the shares it doesn’t already personal. Endeavor is being acquired at an equity worth of $13 billion, in accordance to a launch from the entertainment company.

The transaction is anticipated to shut by the tip of the primary quarter of 2025. 

“We imagine this transaction will maximize worth for all of Endeavor’s public stockholders and are excited to proceed to unlock and spend money on the expansion alternatives forward as a private company,” Endeavor CEO Ariel Emanuel stated in a assertion.

Endeavor works on expertise illustration, by way of company WME, together with model licensing and reside occasions. It has undergone a shift lately.

In 2022, the company acquired OpenBet, a sports activities betting platform. In 2023, it sold IMG Academy, a sports activities schooling establishment, in a $1.25 billion deal.

Endeavor can also be the bulk proprietor of TKO Group Holdings, which owns the UFC and WWE. TKO will stay a publicly traded company as a part of the deal.

Endeavor beforehand said it would explore strategic options, together with a doable sale.

Silver Lake initially invested in Endeavor in 2012 and supported the company’s acquisition of UFC in 2016. Silverlake’s co-CEO Egon Durban and managing director Stephen Evans have been members of Endeavor’s board forward of the acquisition.