WWE & UFC parent company acquires Professional Bull Riders, two other companies
TKO is bringing on several new properties already within the Endeavor family into their fold.
Announced Thursday morning, the parent company of WWE and UFC is acquiring Professional Bull Riders (PBR), On Location, and IMG from Endeavor in an all-stock deal valued at $3.25 billion.
Ari Emanuel is the CEO of both Endeavor and TKO. The impetus of the transaction is the lead up to Endeavor wanting to go private in a proposed transaction with private equity firm Silver Lake. As a result, they are looking to shed some of their assets prior to that happening.
While PBR doesn’t have a logical tie-in with either WWE or UFC, both On Location and IMG do.
The former is a premium event company that provides VIP experiences for more than 1200 sporting events including for the Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four. TKO executive Mark Shapiro has spoken publicly in the past about wanting to increase those opportunities for both WWE and UFC who both currently use On Location.
IMG has many different business tentacles as they both distribute and produce sports content, handle media rights and brand partnerships, and offer digital services and event management. Clients include the NFL and NHL. Both WWE and UFC are listed under their current portfolio of clients.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.