Endeavor to Sell Diamond Baseball Holdings to Silver Lake
August 09 2022 - 4:30PM
Business Wire
Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EDR), a global sports and
entertainment company, today announced it has entered into a
definitive agreement to sell its Professional Development League
(PDL) business, Diamond Baseball Holdings (DBH), to Silver Lake,
the global leader in technology investing (the “Transaction”).
Diamond Baseball Holdings has been operating under Endeavor in
its mission to bring value to local Minor League Clubs affiliated
with Major League Baseball through professional management, best
practices, innovation and investment. To date, Diamond Baseball
Holdings has acquired 10 Clubs: Iowa Cubs (Triple-A affiliate of
the Chicago Cubs); Memphis Redbirds (Triple-A affiliate of the St.
Louis Cardinals); Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders (Triple-A
affiliate of the New York Yankees); Hudson Valley Renegades (High-A
affiliate of the New York Yankees); San Jose Giants (Single-A
affiliate of the San Francisco Giants); Gwinnett Stripers (Triple-A
affiliate of the Atlanta Braves); Mississippi Braves (Double-A
affiliate of the Atlanta Braves); Rome Braves (High-A affiliate of
the Atlanta Braves); Augusta GreenJackets (Single-A affiliate of
the Atlanta Braves); Oklahoma City Dodgers (Triple-A affiliate of
the Los Angeles Dodgers).
Under Silver Lake’s ownership, Pat Battle and Peter Freund will
continue to lead the PDL business as Executive Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Diamond Baseball Holdings, respectively.
“Ultimately our relationship with MLB and the MLBPA took
priority given the importance of our overall agency business and
our continued investment in our baseball representation practice
within WME Sports,” said Mark Shapiro, President, Endeavor. “Silver
Lake will be an excellent partner to these Clubs going forward
given their deep understanding of the business and their incredible
track record of investment in sports IP.”
“We look forward to working closely with Silver Lake and
continuing the momentum in championing Minor League Baseball,” said
Pat Battle, Executive Chairman, and Peter Freund, CEO, Diamond
Baseball Holdings. “Coming off several months of invaluable support
and guidance from Endeavor in establishing this organization, and
now moving into Silver Lake’s proven portfolio, the entire DBH
organization is enthusiastically focused on this next phase of
aggressively growing the business.”
“Since its launch, DBH has established a leadership position in
Minor League Baseball, with its Clubs playing a pivotal role in
local communities across the U.S.,” said Stephen Evans, Managing
Director, Silver Lake. “We are excited to partner with Pat, Peter
and their team to help advance DBH’s mission.”
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of
2022, subject to applicable regulatory consents and approvals and
the satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions.
About Endeavor
Endeavor is a global sports and entertainment company, home to
many of the world’s most dynamic and engaging storytellers, brands,
live events and experiences. The company is comprised of industry
leaders including entertainment agency WME; sports, fashion, events
and media company IMG; and premier mixed martial arts organization
UFC. The Endeavor network specializes in talent representation,
sports operations & advisory, event & experiences
management, media production & distribution, experiential
marketing and brand licensing.
About Diamond Baseball Holdings
Diamond Baseball Holdings (DBH) was formed in 2021 to support,
promote and enhance Minor League Baseball Clubs affiliated with
Major League Baseball through professional management, best
practices, innovation and investment.
DiamondBaseballHoldings.com
About Silver Lake
Silver Lake is a global technology investment firm, with more
than $88 billion in combined assets under management and committed
capital and a team of professionals based in North America, Europe
and Asia. Silver Lake’s portfolio companies collectively generate
nearly $254 billion of revenue annually and employ approximately
557,000 people globally.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Statements that do not relate to matters of historical fact
should be considered forward-looking statements, including
expectations regarding the timing of the closing of the
Transaction. These forward-looking statements are based on
management’s current expectations, are neither promises nor
guarantees and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other important factors that may cause actual results to materially
differ from what is expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements, including, but not limited to the factors discussed in
Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in Endeavor’s Annual Report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, as any such
factors may be updated from time to time in its other filings with
the SEC, accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and
Endeavor’s Investor Relations site at investor.endeavorco.com.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made
and, except as may be required under applicable law, Endeavor
undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220809005835/en/
Matthew Benson / Silver Lake matthew.benson@silverlake.com
Christian Muirhead / Endeavor press@endeavorco.com
Endeavor (NYSE:EDR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Endeavor (NYSE:EDR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024