Endeavor Group now to be known as WME Group, with $27.5bn valuation

US private equity giant Silver Lake has completed its acquisition of Endeavor Group, taking the Ari Emanuel company private once again. 

The deal completes Endeavor’s four-year stint as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange, during which it acquired Vince McMahon’s wrestling empire WWE and combined it with UFC to form sports giant TKO Group. 

The group also sold its scripted content division - now known as Succession producer Fifth Season - to South Korea’s CJ ENM, but did not find strong support for its shareprice with Emanuel arguing the company’s assets were not fairly valued by the market. 

Instead, investor Silver Lake put forward a plan in late 2023 to take the company private. That deal, which involved the private equity firm alongside Endeavor execs and third parties, was formally completed the deal today. 

Silver Lake said the Endeavor Group brand would be replaced by the WME Group moniker, housing Pantheon Media Group (fka Asylum Entertainment Group), which owns 20 prodcos. The company previously backed Derren Lawford’s Dare and Lamara’s Soho Studios. 

WME Group will also be the parent for the talent agency of the same name, as well as marketing firm 160over90 and its IMG Licensing unit. 

Endeavor chief exec Emanuel become exec chairman at WME Group and retains oversight of TKO. Endeavor’s former chief operating officer, Mark Shapiro, is now president and managing partner at WME Group, along with Christian Muirhead and Richard Weitz, who were previously co-chairmen at WME. 

Egon Durban, Silver Lake’s co-chief exec and managing partner, said: “Silver Lake is proud and honoured to be [Endeavor’s] partners since 2012 as they have continued to build the company. Over this period, revenue has grown by twentyfold. Silver Lake has previously invested on six separate occasions to support Endeavor and now, with this latest investment, it is the single largest position in our global portfolio.” 

Emanuel said: “I am grateful to Egon and the team at Silver Lake for the trust they have placed in me as a founder and entrepreneur. Together, we have created and enhanced a foundation unlike any other to accelerate value creation for clients and partners across WME Group and TKO, which I am excited to continue to build and grow.”