The wedding between two of the world’s best-known sports activities leisure manufacturers grew to become official on Tuesday.
The UFC and WWE have formally merged on Tuesday, making a model new firm referred to as TKO Group which is to go dwell on the New York Inventory Trade immediately, in a transfer hailed by the brand new group as being “a brand new premium sports activities and leisure firm serving multiple billion younger and numerous followers, reaching viewers in 180 nations, and producing greater than 350 annual dwell occasions,” based on mum or dad firm Endeavor.
Endeavor holds a 51% share within the new firm, whereas current WWE shareholders management 49%. Vince McMahon, who grew the WWE from a regional entity to a world behemoth over the course of a number of a long time, turns into the chief chairman of TKO Group. Dana White continues as UFC CEO, whereas Nick Khan is WWE’s president.
“That is the end result of a decades-long partnership between Endeavor and WWE throughout strategic initiatives together with expertise illustration and media rights. Given our collaborative, trusted relationship and Endeavor’s unbelievable monitor document of success rising UFC, we consider WWE is optimally positioned for future progress and success as a part of TKO. Our focus stays on delivering for our followers throughout the globe as we take the enterprise to the subsequent stage alongside UFC and Endeavor,” Vince McMahon stated in a press release.
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel added: “The creation of TKO marks an thrilling new chapter for UFC and WWE as leaders in international sports activities and leisure. Given their continued connectivity to the Endeavor community, we’re assured in our capacity to speed up their respective progress and unlock long-term sustainable worth for shareholders. With UFC and WWE beneath one roof, we’ll present unequalled experiences for greater than a billion passionate followers worldwide.”
The brand new firm has an enterprise worth of round $21 billion and is estimated to provide round $2.5 billion in annual income.
