Vince McMahon wants as much as $9 billion for World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., the media company he ran for decades and returned to this year in order to sell it, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter.
The company WWE, +0.93% has received some offers, the report said, with Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. EDR, +0.23%, owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, among the potential buyers.
WWE declined comment.
The mercurial McMahon, WWE’s controlling shareholder, reinstated himself as executive chairman in January to oversee a strategic review and sale of the company. Last year, McMahon stepped aside after reports in the Wall Street Journal that he had paid millions of dollars to settle sexual-misconduct claims.
Shares of WWE closed up about 1% in trading Friday.
As of the stock’s close, the asking price was nearly 40% higher than the company’s $6.5 billion market value. WWE shares have climbed 28% this year, largely because of speculation over the potential sale.
The steep asking price has prompted wrestling observers to question how much WWE could actually fetch in a sale.
“WWE may be worth $7 billion if you can get affordable financing. But WWE is not a growth company,” Brandon Thurston, editor of Wrestlenomics, told MarketWatch. “The live sports rights market is strong for the foreseeable future but uncertain beyond the horizon of a few years, given questions around whether streaming can really replace the profits of cable.”
Also read: Stephanie McMahon resigns from WWE after Vince McMahon’s return to board
Related: WWE’s Vince McMahon agrees to multimillion-dollar legal settlement with accuser: report
This article was originally published by Marketwatch.com. Read the original article here.
