Silver Lake Makes It Official: It’s Taking Endeavor Private
POWER PLAYER: Ari Emanuel, right, Endeavor’s CEO, is seen at the White House in 2016 with then President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. (Getty Images)
Transaction values Endeavor at $13 Billion
Technology investment firm Silver Lake is taking Endeavor Group Holdings private, a deal telegraphed in October when the two firms said they were exploring strategic alternatives.
Silver Lake has made substantial investments in the live entertainment space, including in Oak View Group, a developer of arenas that also owns VenuesNow, as well as Diamond Baseball Holdings, which now owns and operates 30 Minor League Baseball teams.
Silver Lake first invested in William Morris Endeavor in 2012 and continued to back the company as it acquired IMG in 2014, went public in 2021, acquired UFC in 2016 and merged UFC and WWE to create TKO Group Holdings in 2023.
DBH was originally established by Endeavor in 2021 before becoming a Silver Lake subsidiary.
TKO will remain a separate, publicly traded company, but with close connections to Endeavor, the companies announced.
The deal values Endeavor at $13 billion

Tuesday’s news release announcing the transaction touted it as “the largest ever in the media and entertainment sector,” and the largest transaction to take a company private in 10 years.
Silver Lake will acquire all of the outstanding shares it does not already own, with Endeavor stockholders receiving $27.50 per share in cash, a 55% premium to $17.72 per share the stock traded at on Oct. 25, 2023, prior to Endeavor announcing it was exploring alternatives.
“Silver Lake believes that when consolidating all of TKO’s value into Endeavor, the combined total enterprise value of $25 billion will make this the largest private equity sponsor public-to-private investment transaction in over a decade, and the largest ever in the media and entertainment sector,” according to the announcement.
“Since 2012, Endeavor’s strategic partnership with Silver Lake and (its Co-CEO and Managing Partner) Egon Durban have been central to our evolution into the global sports and entertainment leader we are today,” stated Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel. “We believe this transaction will maximize value for all of Endeavor’s public stockholders and are excited to continue to unlock and invest in the growth opportunities ahead as a private company.”
Durban pointed to the two companies’ “very special partnership,” noting that Endeavor has gone from $350 million in annual revenue in 2012, when Silver Lake first invested, to nearly $6 billion in consolidated revenue today. During that time, Silver Lake has made $3.5 billion of direct investment in Endeavor.
“Now, Endeavor can take advantage of its unique core platform to meet the dynamic forces driving growth in content, sports and live events with bold vision,” Durban said. “Consistent with our mission and underscored by this commitment being among the largest in Silver Lake’s history, we are all in on working with the Endeavor team and our trusted anchor investors to create value by accelerating growth at scale.”
