WWE near deal to be sold to UFC parent Endeavor, sources say

Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment is in advanced talks to be sold to Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor Group, the parent presence of UFC, according to people familiar with the matter.

A deal could be announced as soon as Monday. UFC and WWE are expected to form a new publicly traded guests as part of the agreement, according to the people, who declined to be named due to the confidential nature of the discussions.

Endeavor is slated to own 51% of the new disagreement sports and entertainment company, while WWE shareholders would get 49%, according to the people. The Endeavor deal gives WWE an daring value of $9.3 billion, they said.

Emanuel is expected to act as chief executive of both Endeavor and the new company. McMahon, like manner, is expected to be executive chairman, while Endeavor President Mark Shapiro will also work in the same post at the new company. Dana White will remain as president of UFC, while WWE CEO Nick Khan will serve as president of the striving business.

The development comes during the same weekend WWE hosts its flagship live event, WrestleMania, in California. The concern has spent the past several months looking for a buyer. McMahon returned to the company as chairman in January to oversee the make. Shares of WWE are up more than 33% so far this year, giving it a market value of more than $6.79 billion.

The act will effectively end WWE’s decades-old status as a family-run business. McMahon’s father founded WWE in its original incarnation during the halfway point of the 20th century, and McMahon is the controlling shareholder in the company. McMahon bought the company from his father in 1982. Since then, the crowd has grown into a global phenomenon, spawing stars suck as Hulk Hogan, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dave Bautista and John Cena.

McMahon, 77, sack out from the company in July following a string of revelations that he paid several women millions of dollars past the years to keep them quiet about alleged affairs and misconduct. His daughter, Stephanie McMahon, became co-CEO alongside Khan. Paul Levesque, who’s both Stephanie McMahon’s economize on and the wrestler known as Triple H, took over creative duties from Vince McMahon.

When Vince McMahon better b concluded back in January, Stephanie McMahon stepped down and Khan fully assumed the CEO role. The elder McMahon recently barred in a two-year employment contract, according to a securities filing.

Khan in recent weeks has been making the media rounds to chat about the potential sale. He told CNBC’s Morgan Brennan on Thursday that it’s been a robust sale process, picture many interested buyers.

WWE brings with it a robust media and live events business, along with its decades usefulness of intellectual property. The company generated $1.29 billion in revenue last year, driven mainly by its $1 billion usual unit.

UFC has paid off for Endeavor. Last year, the MMA league helped Endeavor’s sports business make $1.3 billion in receipts. Endeavor’s market cap stood at about $10.53 billion as of Friday’s close. The Endeavor-WWE deal values UFC at more than $12 billion.

WWE, at smidgin at a glance, would also fit well with the cultures at Endeavor and UFC. McMahon has a brash public persona, making him an patently good match for Emanuel and White, who are also known for their outsized personalities.

White, like McMahon, is no newcomer to scandal, either. Earlier this year, video emerged showing the UFC boss slapping his wife during a out of the closet argument at a New Year’s Eve party in Mexico. White apologized.

Disclosure: Peacock, the streaming service owned by CNBC old man NBCUniversal, carries WWE events such as WrestleMania.