WWE’s attempt at a sale rages on. Reports dropped earlier this week that the pro wrestling promotion had already agreed in principle to a sale to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, only for them to quickly be shot down by sources within the company. However, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is now reporting that the Saudis are still very much in the running to purchase the company. Corporations such as Endeavor (the UFC’s parent company), Amazon, Netflix and Comcast have repeatedly been brought up by financial experts as potential bidders and Meltzer confirmed that one of the companies that has already spoken with WWE CEO Nick Khan is none other than Disney.
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“They’re not sold. Saudi Arabia is in the hunt. They’re one of the companies that’s looking for it. The names that are out there are all in the hunt. Nick Khan was in Los Angeles when I was in Los Angeles. [He] went to the football game Monday night, so he wasn’t at Raw and met with heavy hitters because they went to the College Football Championship game. Bob Iger, Jimmy Pitaro, so I guess those names will ring some bells,” Meltzer said (h/t Cultaholic).
He then discussed WWE’s timeline for a sale — “They’re looking to sell by the middle of the year, JPMorgan is helping them. Saudi is the only one of the key people as far as if they want to go private. The rest are public companies…There’ll be a decision made at some point. There is definitely smoke to the Saudi Arabia story but it’s too early for a deal to be finalized.”
Talks of WWE selling have been floating around for years, but the conversation was kicked into high gear when Vince McMahon demanded to be reinstated to the WWE Board of Directors under the belief that only he could spearhead those negotiations. The Board tried to turn down McMahon’s offer while citing the SEC’s ongoing investigation into his alleged hush money payments and McMahon responded by threatening to shut down any future sale negotiations or media rights deals. He has since been reinstated as executive chairman, while over half of WWE’s Board has either left or been replaced over the past month —¸including Vince’s own daughter Stephanie. Stay tuned for more updates.
