WME | IMG Gets $1B Investment

An Investment from a Canadian pension fund and a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund is injecting approximately $1 billion into WME | IMG.

– WME \ IMG

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Singapore’s GIC are giving the entertainment, sports and fashion giant the capital to make new investments and potentially to buy out minority partners in current ventures.

Notable acquisitions by WME | IMG include The Miss Universe Organization, Professional Bull Riders and, most recently, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (as part of a consortium) for $4 billion last year.

Silver Lake, a major investor in WME | IMG, said the deal will see CPPIB and GIC join itself, SoftBank and Fidelity as the company’s strategic partners.

Silver Lake Partners sent a letter to its investors on the same day as the announcement of the deal, informing them that the investment signaled WME | IMG could buy out some minority partners in UFC and some shareholders could now liquidate shares, Variety reported.

“WME | IMG has demonstrated a capacity to grow and diversify in an increasingly complex environment for sports, entertainment and fashion globally,” Eric Wilmes, Managing Director of Private Equity at GIC said in a statement. “As a long-term investor, GIC believes the company will benefit from the strong trend of consumers demanding quality content.”