Hollywood mogul Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor was worth $ 10 billion

Hollywood talent agency owner Endeavor raised $ 1.9 billion Wednesday through a simultaneous private placement of its shares, valuing the company at more than $ 10 billion and cementing the wealth of founder Ari Emanuel.

He sold the shares for $ 24 each, at the top of the set range at the beginning of the month.

Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, CEOs of Endeavor, along with other executives, will own 37.7 million pots of Endeavor’s 429.7 million shares, a share of more than $ 900 million in IPO price.

Emanuel founded Endeavor as a talent agency in 1995 and the company has expanded and diversified through various acquisitions, buying rival William Morris Agency and IMG sports agency and buying the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Miss Universe beauty pageant in its portfolio.

Endeavor raised $ 511 million in stock market investments and another $ 1.4 million through the simultaneous private placement of shares. Private placement investors include New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala state fund and Elliott Investment Management.

KKR, which bought a portion of the UFC in 2016, also raised about $ 437 million in the sale of its stake in Endeavor through a private location at the same time.

Last year’s pandemic hit Endeavor hard, after live events were interrupted and film and television productions closed. Losses expanded in 2020 to $ 3.5 billion in revenue of $ 3.5 billion.

The UFC, the mixed martial arts franchise that Endeavor bought in 2016 in partnership with private equity groups, has been a more reliable part of the group’s business. Although the cancellation of the events also affected the UFC, the company is relatively stable thanks to a long-term licensing agreement with Disney, which spends $ 300 million a year on ESPN and its streaming service to air UFC events.

Endeavor plans to use some of the IPO’s revenue to buy the remaining 49.9% of the UFC that it no longer has.

Before he tried to float In 2019, he wanted to raise $ 712 million, ahead of an estimated $ 8 billion shelf because the plan has limited investor appetite.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank have advised on the 2021 offer.