WME-IMG $4 billion acquisition of UFC

Overview:

• Talent agency William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME-IMG) has acquired Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in a $4 billion deal.
• UFC was sold by majority stakeholder Zuffa.
• Private equity firms KKR and Silverlake Partners join WME-IMG as investors.
• Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison (Justin Hamill, Jeffrey Samuels) advised WME-IMG.
• Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy (Kenneth Baronsky, Adam Moses) advised Zuffa. 
• Kirkland & Ellis (Sean Rogers, Ravi Agarwal) and Proskauer & Rose (Jonathan Benloulou) both represented KKR.
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (Atif Azher, Jennifer Hobbs, Kenneth Wallach) advised Silverlake.

Kurt Stumpo - Journalist