Back on January 6, Vince McMahon returned to WWE and voted back on to the Board of Directors as the Executive Chairman. One of his duties was to oversee the sale of WWE, along with working on negotiations for TV rights fees.
On Monday, April 3 it was announced that Endeavor, who owns UCF entered into a merger agreement with WWE.
Per a new SEC Filing, it was revealed that WWE had contacted 60 potential counterparties during the process in looking for a potential buyer. It was also noted in the filing WWE has confidentiality agreements with 20 potential counterparties.
The filling is as follows:
Beginning on January 17, 2023 and continuing until April 2, 2023, when WWE executed the transaction agreement, WWE’s financial advisors, acting on its behalf, contacted and were contacted by over 60 potential counterparties, including strategic companies, financial sponsors, family offices and sovereign wealth funds. Between February 6 and March 21, 2023, WWE entered into confidentiality agreements with 20 potential counterparties. All but one of the confidentiality agreements entered into by WWE in connection with this process included a standstill provision for the benefit of WWE with a customary exclusion permitting parties to make proposals to WWE privately and confidentially, and each of the standstill provisions had a duration of at least 12 months. All confidentiality agreements entered into with standstill provisions included the customary exclusion for private proposals and a “fallaway” provision that would allow the counterparty to make a proposal to acquire WWE in the event WWE entered into a definitive sale agreement. Each potential counterparty that had indicated interest in exploring a strategic transaction with WWE was provided an opportunity to enter into a confidentiality agreement with WWE.