Endeavor, the company that owns much of Frieze, pulled its IPO at the last minute.
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel. Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images.
Endeavor, the majority stakeholder in art world enterprise Frieze, abandoned its initial public offering (IPO) late on Thursday, less than 24 hours before it was due to begin public trading on Friday morning. The move came immediately following an IPO flop by Peloton Interactive Inc., the company known for their interactive stationary bikes, that same day. Peloton’s poor performance was a factor in Endeavor’s decision to pull the plug on its IPO, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
In recent years, Endeavor’s Chief Executive Ari Emanuel and Executive Chairman Patrick Whitesell have taken the company from a high-end talent agency into a multifaceted media goliath, and this IPO offering was expected to be the culmination of their efforts. According to the WSJ, this is the second time they have scuttled plans for an IPO. Endeavor’s offering now won’t happen until next year at the earliest, according to Bloomberg.
Endeavor, a wide-reaching entertainment company that already owned Ultimate Fighting Championship, the Miss Universe pageant (which the company bought from Donald Trump in 2015), New York Fashion Week, and the largest talent agency in Hollywood, purchased a stake in Frieze, the media and event company behind one of the world’s largest art fair franchises as well as the eponymous magazine, in 2016.
Little was known about the deal until Endeavor filed an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange in May with hopes of raising $100 million. Documents provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that, among other things, Endeavor had taken over 70 percent of Frieze’s offshore holding company, Denmark Street Limited.