UFC and WWE officially merge to form new sports and entertainment company; shares to begin trading under 'TKO'

The UFC and WWE merger is officially a done deal. Endeavor and WWE announced that they would create a newly merged entity, TKO Group Holdings.

It will bring together the world’s largest MMA promotion, the UFC, and the premier pro wrestling organization.

Both organizations operate in the sports entertainment industry, and the merger is likely to add a lot of steam to their growth.

While the UFC and WWE are both self-sustaining machineries, joining forces can certainly help propel them to the next level. The newly merged entity will bind together a whopping 1 billion fans. It will also have viewership in more than 180 countries.

The new website of the merged entity will be tkogrp.com. According to Variety, the shares of TKO Group will start trading on Tuesday, September 12, 2023, on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TKO.

Endeavor Holdings has a majority 51 percent stake in the new company, with WWE shareholders retaining a 49 percent interest on a fully diluted basis.

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Vince McMahon will be the executive chairman of the new UFC and WWE merged entity

Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon will be the executive chairman of the TKO group. He has a 16.4 percent share in TKO and the same percentage of voting power in the new entity as well.

According to Endeavor’s statement, the annualized run-rate cost synergies after the TKO deal will range between $50 million to $100 million.

This will involve migrating WWE to Endeavor’s back-office infrastructure. The cost-cutting aspect of the merger is likely to lead to job layoffs from both WWE and the MMA organization.

However, neither organization has announced any such move as of yet. Endeavor’s expertise in domestic and international media rights will prove invaluable to TKO along with ticket sales, event operations, global partnerships, licensing, and premium hospitality to drive the growth engine.

Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel shared his thoughts on TKO in an official statement:

"The creation of TKO marks an exciting new chapter for UFC and WWE as leaders in global sports and entertainment."

"Given their continued connectivity to the Endeavor network, we are confident in our ability to accelerate their respective growth and unlock long-term sustainable value for shareholders. With UFC and WWE under one roof, we will provide unrivaled experiences for more than a billion passionate fans worldwide," he added.

TKO’s revenue in 2022 amounted to $2.43 billion, with the Ultimate Fighting Championships contributing $1.14 billion. The WWE’s share stood at 1.29 billion. The merged entity reported a net income of $351.8 million.