A report from CNBC on Tuesday states that the potential sale of World Wrestling Entertainment is “hot and heavy.” The inference is that the sale may occur based on the number of interested parties.
The report from David Faber notes that McMahon’s willingness to sell has been a key point of emphasis. McMahon has returned in some form to WWE after stepping away for several months after it was revealed that he personally paid off millions of dollars in ‘hush money’ to several women for sexual misconduct. With his return, it is unclear if McMahon will return to the helm or walk away as the biggest holder of WWE stock. There are some reports that McMahon is willing to step away and provide the best value for the shareholders. WWE CEO Nick Khan stated that McMahon was willing to “look at the landscape” in terms of buyers of the company.
The report states that Comcast is not in the discussion as one of the buyers.
However, Endeavor is one of the interested parties and Faber notes that the company may utilize a Reverse Morris Trust in spinning off the UFC into Newco and merging it with WWE. There is also interest from the private equity, the Public Investment Fund of the Saudi Arabian government, Liberty Media and more.
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It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. With Wrestlemania this week, the news on the business of the company was sure to be in the 24-hour-news cycle and likely facilitated by WWE itself. Could the WWE announce a sale after its biggest event of the year similar to what the UFC did in 2016? That is still unclear but the news seems to circulate that there are many suitors for the WWE.
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