Written by Darren Rovell at ESPN.com
The owners of the UFC are in advanced talks to sell the business, sources told ESPN.com.
At least four bidders are believed to have submitted bids for the organization, including WME/IMG, China Media Capital, The Blackstone Group and Dalian Wanda Group. The winning bid, should things proceed, is expected to be for a valuation between $3.5 billion and $4 billion, multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiations told ESPN.com.
UFC president Dana White said reports of the promotion being on the market are not true, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal that “the UFC is not for sale.” On Wednesday morning, White reiterated that stance.
“Yeah, we’re not up for sale,” White said on “The Dan Patrick Show.” “We’re always working on deals and our expansion globally. I’ve been saying since this thing came out: No, we’re not for sale. But let me tell you what: If somebody shows up with $4 billion, we can talk. We can definitely talk.”
White added: “Obviously, if I’m in the middle of a deal right now, there’s a lot of confidentiality involved in it. We’re working on expanding. We’re working on growing the company and moving it to other territories like China, Japan and Korea. So yeah, we’re always working on deals.”
Said Dave Sholler, UFC’s vice president of public relations and athlete marketing: “As a private company, we don’t discuss speculation or rumors related to our business.”
ESPN contacted those said to be interested in the sale. Representatives of WME/IMG and the two Chinese companies, Wanda and CMC, could not be reached immediately. A representative with Blackstone said the company is not considering a bid.
On Wednesday, sources with knowledge of the potential sale told ESPN that the bid book, prepared by boutique investment bank The Raine Group on behalf of UFC owners Zuffa LLC, was sent to prospective bidders in late March. New information was still being shared with prospective bidders this week, one source with knowledge of the negotiations said.
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