Paul Weiss advised World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. on its merger with Ultimate Fighting Championship to form a new publicly traded company, according to a Monday announcement.
The new company will be controlled by Endeavor Group Holdings Inc., the owner of UFC, which was advised by Latham & Watkins in the transaction. Endeavor will own a 51% stake in the new entity, while WWE shareholders will own the other 49%.
The deal values the entities at a combined enterprise value of $21.4 billion.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison partners Kyle Seifried and Scott Barshay led the Wall Street law firm’s work for WWE.
Latham partners Justin Hamill, Michael Anastasio, Jonathan Solomon, Ian Nussbaum, Rick Offsay and Morgan Brubaker advised Endeavor.
Kirkland & Ellis corporate partners Edward J. Lee, Jonathan Davis and Chelsea Darnell advised Vincent McMahon, the controlling stockholder of WWE, who will be executive chairman of the new company’s board.
The three law firms are among Big Law’s top dealmakers, each advising deals valued in the hundreds of billions every year. Global deal activity reached $3.6 trillion last year, down sharply from the previous year.
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