Endeavor announces purchase of WWE

UPDATE: Endeavor announced on Monday they have completed their purchase off WWE. They announced it as the formation of “a new, publicly listed company consisting of two iconic, complementary, global sports and entertainment brands: UFC and WWE. Upon close, Endeavor will hold a 51% controlling interest in the new company and existing WWE shareholders will hold a 49% interest in the new company.”

Endeavor CEO Ariel Emanuel will serve as CEO of the new company while Vince McMahon will be President and Mark Shapiro will be COO. Dana White will continue as President of the UFC brand and Nick Khan will will serve as President of the WWE brand. The Board of Directors will consist of 11 members who will be appointed at a later date, six of whom will be appointed by Endeavor and five of whom by WWE.

As the WWE prepares to wrap up its marquee Wrestlemania weekend in the Los Angeles area, the long-rumored sale of the company could be imminent.

Alex Sherman of CNBC reported on Sunday that the Endeavor Group is close to purchasing the WWE and a deal could be announced as early as Monday. Owned by Ari Emanuel, Endeavor is the parent company of UFC and would own 51% of the WWE with a potential sale. Emanuel would act as chief executive while current majority shareholder Vince McMahon would serve as executive chairman.

Speculation over the company’s sale have ramped up over the past few months with McMahon’s return in January for this specific reasons. A handful of suitors were reported as potential buyers, including Comcast, the parent company of NBC Universal and the Saudi Arabia Investment Funds.

We obviously will now wait to see if the company will confirm this following Wrestlemania. Chief content officer Paul Levesque, better known by his wrestling persona Triple H, will speak to the media in a media scrum following Sunday’s show.