Ari Emanuel, Hollywood superagent and CEO of Endeavor Group Holdings, is edging nearer to a significant acquisition that might broaden his affect from sports activities and leisure into the artwork world.
A consortium he leads, partnered with New York personal fairness corporations Apollo International Administration and RedBird Capital Companions, has reportedly outbid the European agency CVC Capital Companions to purchase a bunch of belongings at the moment owned by Endeavor, valued at greater than $1 billion, Bloomberg reported final week.
The centerpiece of the deal entails the Madrid and Miami Open tennis tournaments, two of essentially the most prestigious sports activities occasions on the earth, however the portfolio up for public sale may additionally embrace Frieze, the worldwide modern artwork truthful and writer.
Endeavor bought a stake in Frieze in 2016, and later purchased out the remainder of the 20-year-old model, which had beforehand been run by former homeowners and founders Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover. Because the buy, Frieze has been a part of the corporate’s Occasions division, which the corporate has been trying to dump since personal fairness agency Silver Lake introduced it was taking Endeavor personal final fall.
Whereas the deal is just not but finalized and phrases may nonetheless shift, Bloomberg experiences that Frieze is on the desk.
The artwork model, which was began within the early Nineties, is among the smallest income drivers at Endeavor. In line with UK monetary audits filed between 2021 and 2024, the holding firm was centered on increasing Frieze’s Occasions, which spans the truthful’s London and Seoul editions. These three festivals noticed post-tax income drop by higher than 66 p.c in that interval, going from £5 million in 2021 to £1.7 million in 2023. (The figures exclude New York and Los Angeles editions.)
Emanuel’s group has been linked to backing main sports activities tournaments for a few years, however doesn’t have ties to different art-adjacent manufacturers. If the deal closes within the consortium’s favor, it might deepen RedBird’s foothold in sports activities and media, including to its investments in AC Milan, Alpine F1, and Fenway Sports activities Group.
Silver Lake’s current transfer to take the corporate personal has prompted the sale of a number of divisions, together with a $3.25 billion inside deal transferring possession of IMG and different sports activities properties to TKO Group Holdings, the mother or father firm of UFC and WWE.
Silver Lake accomplished its buy of Endeavor late final month, the corporate introduced. As a part of the shift, the corporate’s illustration companies had been rebranded WME Group, with Emanuel as govt chairman.
