Endeavor Officially Withdraws Intent to Go Public

The Ari Emanuel-led company had postponed its offering in late September.

After abruptly postponing its public offering on Sept. 26, Endeavor Group Holdings on Wednesday made the decision official to drop its current IPO plans.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ari Emanuel-led company said that it is seeking to withdraw its IPO intention "because it no longer wishes to conduct a public offering of securities at this time."

Endeavor did, however, leave open the door for a future public offering, requesting that SEC fees "in connection with the filing of the Registration Statement be credited for future use."

When it dropped its initial plans in September, the company said at the time, "Endeavor will continue to evaluate the timing for the proposed offering as market conditions develop."

Endeavor — the parent company of talent agency WME, as well as assets as varied as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the Miss Universe Organization and global sports management firm IMG — had filed its IPO plans on May 23 of this year.

The company initially forecast that it would raise more than $600 million in a public offering, but later revised the price and number of shares lower for an offering that would have raised north of $350 million.

The move met resistance, in particular, from the Writers Guild of America, which had filed a lawsuit against WME in April over the practice of packaging fees, wherein agents are paid directly by a studio for attaching talent to a scribe's pitch.

When Endeavor postponed its IPO plans, the WGA West responded to the move: "Reports that the Endeavor IPO has been withdrawn show that investors didn’t buy the company’s conflicted business practices."