Hollywood Powerhouse Endeavor Seeks Up To $619 Million in IPO

(Bloomberg) -- Endeavor Group Holdings Inc., led by talent agent turned media mogul Ariel Emanuel and backed by private equity firms, has set the price range for a U.S. initial public offering that could raise as much as $619 million.

The Hollywood entertainment company plans to offer 19.35 million shares at $30 to $32 apiece, it said in a regulatory filing Monday.

Emanuel started Endeavor in 1995 with three colleagues from International Creative Management, one of Hollywood’s largest talent shops. Up until a few years ago, his biggest deal was swallowing William Morris Agency, a larger and much older talent agency. Private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, is a major investor in the company.

The offering is being led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., KKR & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank AG. Endeavor also added 18 more banks to the transaction, according to Monday’s filing. Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, RBC Capital Markets, UBS Group AG, Evercore Inc., Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc are among underwriters that are joining the deal, the filing shows.

Over the past few years, Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell have transformed Endeavor from a boutique talent agency into a multi-pronged media giant that runs sports leagues, hosts fashion events and represents leading athletes as well as entertainers. Endeavor’s clients include Dwayne Johnson, tennis star Maria Sharapova and celebrity chef Bobby Flay.

Endeavor will have four classes of stock as part of the offering, including a high-vote class of shares that will be mostly owned by Emanuel, Whitesell and Silver Lake.

Talent representation now accounts for less than half of its revenue. In 2016, Endeavor acquired Ultimate Fighting Championship, the world’s biggest mixed martial arts match promoter, for $4 billion.

Endeavor applied to trade its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EDR.

To contact the reporter on this story: Crystal Tse in New York at ctse44@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, Liana Baker

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