New Company to Begin Trading Today,
September 12, on the New York Stock Exchange Under “TKO” Ticker
Symbol
Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EDR) (“Endeavor”) and World
Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (previously NYSE: WWE) (“WWE”) today
announced the close of their previously announced agreement and the
launch of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO) (“TKO”).
TKO brings together UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts
organization, and WWE, an integrated media organization and the
recognized global leader in sports entertainment, to create a new
premium sports and entertainment company serving more than one
billion young and diverse fans1, reaching viewers in 180 countries,
and producing more than 350 annual live events. Through this
combination, TKO will leverage Endeavor’s expertise in areas
including domestic and international media rights, ticket sales and
yield optimization, event operations, global partnerships,
licensing, and premium hospitality to drive revenue growth.
“The creation of TKO marks an exciting new chapter for UFC and
WWE as leaders in global sports and entertainment,” said Ariel
Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor and TKO. “Given their continued
connectivity to the Endeavor network, we are confident in our
ability to accelerate their respective growth and unlock long-term
sustainable value for shareholders. With UFC and WWE under one
roof, we will provide unrivaled experiences for more than a billion
passionate fans worldwide.”
“This is the culmination of a decades-long partnership between
Endeavor and WWE across strategic initiatives including talent
representation and media rights. Given our collaborative, trusted
relationship and Endeavor’s incredible track record of success
growing UFC, we believe WWE is optimally positioned for future
growth and success as part of TKO,” said Vince McMahon, Executive
Chairman of TKO. “Our focus remains on delivering for our fans
across the globe as we take the business to the next level
alongside UFC and Endeavor.”
TKO will begin trading today on the New York Stock Exchange
under the ticker symbol “TKO,” with Endeavor holding a 51%
controlling interest in the new company and existing WWE
shareholders holding a 49% interest in the new company, on a fully
diluted basis.
Leadership Team
As previously announced, TKO is led by:
- Ariel Emanuel, Chief Executive Officer, who continues as Chief
Executive Officer of Endeavor;
- Mark Shapiro, President and Chief Operating Officer, who
continues as President and Chief Operating Officer of
Endeavor;
- Andrew Schleimer, Chief Financial Officer; and
- Seth Krauss, Chief Legal Officer, who continues as Chief Legal
Officer of Endeavor.
Dana White is now Chief Executive Officer of UFC and Lawrence
Epstein remains Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating
Officer of UFC. Nick Khan continues at WWE in the role of
President.
The Board of Directors of TKO is led by Vince McMahon as
Executive Chairman of the Board and consists of 11 members,
including Mr. Emanuel, Mr. Shapiro, and Mr. Khan, in addition to
the following directors:
- Peter C.B. Bynoe, Senior Advisor at DLA Piper LLP;
- Egon P. Durban, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Silver Lake;
- Steven R. Koonin, Chief Executive Officer of the Atlanta Hawks,
LLC;
- Jonathan A. Kraft, President of the Kraft Group LLC;
- Sonya E. Medina, President and Chief Executive Officer of Reach
Resilience;
- Nancy R. Tellem, Executive Chairperson and Chief Media Officer
of Eko; and
- Carrie Wheeler, Chief Executive Officer and a board member of
Opendoor Technologies Inc.
Advisors
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
served as financial advisors to Endeavor, Latham & Watkins LLP
served as legal advisor to Endeavor, and Alvarez & Marsal
served as integration advisor to Endeavor. The Raine Group served
as lead financial advisor to WWE. J.P. Morgan and Moelis &
Company LLC served as financial advisors to WWE. Paul, Weiss,
Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP served as legal advisor to WWE,
and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to WWE’s
controlling stockholder, McMahon.
About Endeavor
Endeavor (NYSE: EDR) is a global sports and entertainment
company, home to many of the world’s most dynamic and engaging
storytellers, brands, live events and experiences. The company is
comprised of industry leaders including entertainment agency WME;
and sports, fashion, events and media company IMG. Endeavor is also
the majority owner of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), a premium
sports and entertainment company comprising UFC and WWE. The
Endeavor network specializes in talent representation, sports
operations & advisory, event & experiences management,
media production & distribution, experiential marketing and
brand licensing.
About TKO
TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO) is a premium sports and
entertainment company that comprises UFC, the world’s premier mixed
martial arts organization, and WWE, an integrated media
organization and the recognized global leader in sports
entertainment. Together, our organizations reach more than 1
billion TV households in approximately 180 countries, and we
organize more than 350 live events year-round, attracting over one
million fans. TKO is majority owned by Endeavor Group Holdings,
Inc. (NYSE: EDR), a global sports and entertainment company.
About UFC®
UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization
(MMA), with more than 700 million fans and 228 million social media
followers. The organization produces more than 40 live events
annually in some of the most prestigious arenas around the world,
while broadcasting to over 900 million TV households across more
than 170 countries. UFC’s athlete roster features the world’s best
MMA athletes representing more than 80 countries. The
organization’s digital offerings include UFC FIGHT PASS®, one of
the world’s leading streaming services for combat sports. UFC is
part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), and is headquartered in Las
Vegas, Nevada. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC
at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok:
@UFC.
About WWE®
WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), is an integrated
media organization and the recognized global leader in sports
entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses
that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a
global audience. WWE is committed to family-friendly entertainment
on its television programming, premium live events, digital media,
and publishing platforms. WWE’s TV-PG programming can be seen in
more than 1 billion homes worldwide in 25 languages through
world-class distribution partners including NBCUniversal, FOX
Sports, TNT Sport, Sony India and Rogers. The award-winning WWE
Network includes all premium live events, scheduled programming and
a massive video-on-demand library and is currently available in
more than 180 countries. In the United States, NBCUniversal’s
streaming service, Peacock, is the exclusive home to WWE Network.
Additional information on WWE can be found at wwe.com and
corporate.wwe.com.
Website Disclosure
Investors and others should note that TKO announces material
financial and operational information to its investors using press
releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts, as
well as its Investor Relations site at investor.tkogrp.com. TKO may
also use its website as a distribution channel of material
information about the Company. In addition, you may automatically
receive email alerts and other information about TKO, UFC and WWE
when you enroll your email address by visiting the “Investor Email
Alerts” option under the Resources tab on investor.tkogrp.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
These forward-looking statements generally include statements
regarding transaction between Endeavor and WWE resulting in the
formation and launch of TKO, including statements regarding
expected synergies, impacts and benefits of the transaction, future
opportunities, and other statements regarding TKO’s future
expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, results of operations,
financial condition and cash flows, or future events or
performance. All statements other than statements of historical
facts contained in this communication may be forward-looking
statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking
statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “outlook,” “should,”
“expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “targets,”
“projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,”
“potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other
similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this
communication are only predictions. Endeavor and TKO management
have based these forward-looking statements largely on their
current expectations and projections about future events and
financial trends that management believes may affect its business,
financial condition and results of operations. These statements are
neither promises nor guarantees and involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause
actual results, performance or achievements to be materially
different from what is expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements, including, but not limited to: there may be
difficulties with the integration and in realizing the expected
benefits of the transaction; Endeavor and TKO may need to use
resources that are needed in other parts of its business to do so;
there may be liabilities that are not known, probable or estimable
at this time; integration of the UFC and WWE businesses may result
in the diversion of management’s time and attention; expected
synergies and operating efficiencies attributable to the
transaction may not be achieved within its expected time-frames or
at all; there may be significant integration costs in connection
with the transaction; and risks inherent to the business may result
in additional strategic and operational risks, which may impact
Endeavor’s and TKO’s risk profiles, which each company may not be
able to mitigate effectively. In addition, a number of important
factors could cause Endeavor’s or TKO’s actual future results and
other future circumstances to differ materially from those
expressed in any forward-looking statements, including but not
limited to those important factors discussed in Part I, Item 1A
“Risk Factors” in Endeavor’s or WWE’s Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, as any such factors
may be updated from time to time in other filings with the SEC,
including without limitation, Endeavor’s and WWE’s Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2023, WWE’s
final prospectus on Form 424(b)(3) filed with the SEC on August 22,
2023 as any such factors may be further updated from time to time
in TKO’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(the “SEC”), accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and
TKOs investor relations site at investor.tkogrp.com.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made
and, except as may be required under applicable law, neither
Endeavor nor TKO undertake any obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
1 Derived from third-party survey data and are based on (i)
adults age 18 or older who indicated a Top 2 Box score (i.e., chose
one of the two most favorable response options) when surveyed
regarding UFC and WWE, respectively, and (ii) internet users age
16-64 who indicated they “regularly follow” or “regularly watch”
when surveyed regarding UFC and WWE, respectively.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230911475117/en/
Investor Contacts: For Endeavor James Marsh
investor@endeavorco.com
For WWE Seth Zaslow seth.zaslow@wwecorp.com
For TKO Seth Zaslow investor@tkogrp.com
Media Contacts: For Endeavor Brunswick Group
Endeavor@brunswickgroup.com
For WWE Chris Legentil chris.legentil@wwecorp.com
For TKO press@tkogrp.com
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