Endeavor will go public on Thursday (April 29) after a previous IPO in 2019 stalled amid what the company called unfavourable market conditions and a dispute with the US Writers Guild of America.

Shares in the company, owner of WME, IMG and UFC, will start trading at $24 as CEO Ari Emanuel, executive chairman Patrick Whitesell and president Mark Shapiro look to raise more than $500m.

That is on top of a private cash raise from institutional investors understood to be in the region of $1.7bn.

Endeavor wants to use the private placement to take full control of UFC as it seeks to increase its focus on sport.

The IPO would value Endeavor at approximately $10bn. Last week’s IPO filing revealed Endeavor carries a $5.9bn debt load.

Last month it emerged that Tesla entrepreneur Elon Musk has been nominated as an Endeavor board member.

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