Dana White to sell his remaining stake in UFC two decades after the MMA chief bought the company with Endeavor taking 100% ownership in a deal worth £1.2BILLION as tech mogul Elon Musk joins board of directors
- UFC chief Dana White is set to sell his remaining shares in the organisation
- He bought the company in 2001 before selling majority of stakes to Endeavor
- White has stayed on as UFC president, keeping a portion of his shares in UFC
- But Endeavor will now take 100% ownership in a deal worth around £1.2bn
Dana White is set to hand over his remaining shares in UFC – giving parent company Endeavor a 100 per cent controlling stake in the company.
UFC chief White bought the organisation back in 2001 alongside his brother Frank and friend Lorenzo Fertitta, later selling a large chunk of their shares to Endeavor in 2016 in a sale worth around £3billion.
White stayed on as president, retaining a small amount of shares, but he will now own none of the company after Endeavor complete their full acquisition, which will cost them around £1.2bn.
Dana White is set to sell his remaining shares in UFC to Endeavor in a deal worth £1.2bn
He bought the company back in 2001 but will own none of it after Endeavor complete the deal
White has managed to turn the UFC into a huge financial success worth billions, having initially worked as a manager for MMA fighters Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz.
He decided to take the reins at UFC after Bob Meyrowitz – the organisation’s co-creator – decided to sell it. White, his brother and Fertitta paid just £1.5m to acquire the company.
At the time the previous owners had sold a majority of the company’s assets to avoid bankruptcy, leaving White with just the brand name and an old octagon.
White has transformed UFC into a multi-billion dollar company under his leadership
The sport performed well during the pandemic as White was able to put on top fights such as Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje (above)
The US firm – formerly known as William Morris Endeavor – revealed its intention to wrap up a full takeover of UFC in their prospectus this week.
‘On February 16, 2021, Endeavor Operating Company entered into a Transaction Agreement with the Other UFC Holders and certain of their affiliates pursuant to which Endeavor Operating Company will directly or indirectly acquire equity interests in UFC Parent from the Other UFC Holders, resulting in Endeavor Operating Company directly or indirectly owning 100% of the equity interests of UFC Parent (the ‘UFC Buyout’).
‘We currently own 50.1% of UFC Parent’s common equity and have consolidated UFC Parent’s financial results from the date of the UFC acquisition in 2016.’
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is set to join Endeavor’s board of directors as they look to go public
And in another boost for Endeavor, tech billionaire Elon Musk – the owner of car manufacturer Tesla and Space X – is set to join the board of directors.
The deal comes as Endeavor prepares to move towards taking the company public. The success of UFC last year – one of the first sports to return to action following the coronavirus shutdown – helped them rake in £2.5bn in revenue in 2020.
UFC put on some top fights with some impressive buys on PPV, as fans were treated to bouts such as Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje, Stipe Miocic vs Daniel Cormier and Israel Adesnaya vs Paulo Costa.