Endeavor Plots IPO, Plans to Drive Wall Street Wave Despite Guild Drama
Talk about timing. WGA members are now voting to approve the WGA West Board and the WGA East Council to implement a new agency code that includes a package fee prohibition and to separate agency bands into affiliated production units. That vote closes on Sunday morning. What a Moment for a Bombshell Wall Street Journal reports that Endeavor, the parent company of the Big Four agency WME, is preparing to enter paperwork for a stock exchange listing Wall Street at the turn of the year. WME would not comment.
Not the WGA, which issued a statement that shrank the Endeavor plan:
"Today's announcement that Endeavor is planning to become a publicly traded company only strengthens the call for the conflicting and illegal practices of the great talent agencies to end," so guilds. "It is impossible to reconcile the basic purpose of an agency ̵[ads1]1; to serve the best of its customers – to maximize the return on Wall Street. Writers will not be exploited by their own representatives to invest in assets."
Much of the WGA saber Rattling has focused on how much packaging – with authors providing the underground intellectual property – means to the economic value of the percents. WME owner Endeavor funded, sold and developed more than 100 film, television and non-fiction projects, including Killing Eve and Book Club and has been part of The Front Runner, Suspiria, Mid90s, Old Man and the Gun, you will not be my neighbor and Monsters and Men . On the TV page, the agreements include WGA East President Beau Willimon T first at Hulu, Damien Chazelle forthcoming The Eddy and Apple's See and The Truth Is Told (formerly known as Are You Sleeping ), the latter through his joint scripted television venture with Peter Chernin.
WME has its affiliate production relationship with Endeavor Content, CAA has its affiliate with Wipp, and UTA has its Civic Center Media. The Guild has attempted to negotiate a new franchise agreement with the Talent Agents Association, but no progress has been made on the key issues, with the April 6 deadline for an agreement approaching.
A year ago, Endeavor was valued at about $ 4 billion. While there is still a heavyweight in talent representation, it has also expanded through the acquisition (with partners) of the UFC and also sports, fashion and event specialist IMG, making it potentially less vulnerable to the monasteries.
Going public will mean greater access to capital through the markets, but also a greater degree of responsibility for the shareholders. Ari Emanuel has been in chief executive mode for a while now and spoke last year at a Goldman Sachs conference in New York. He has done the case for Endeavor as a larger company than the commission-based store founded in 1995 by Emanuel and two of his former ICM colleagues.
More than anything in the Endeavor or the entertainment industry, the go-go climate for the IPO cannot be discounted as a factor in the decision to become public.
Lyft's shares closed at $ 78.29 today, their first trading day, representing a healthy premium over the public offer price of $ 72 per share. The $ ha market value of $ 26.4 billion made it one of the most valuable US companies to go public this year. Uber could fly even higher, says Wall Street analysts, with Pinterest, Slack and delivery service. Postmates also prepares his own debuts.
