UFC’s parent company is entering a whole new arena: the public market.

Endeavor is planning to raise around $511.2 million in an IPO at a valuation of about $10 billion.

The company will also bring in around $1.7 billion through a private sale to Tencent, Elliott Management, Silver Lake, and Third Point, among other investors. Around a quarter of that sum — $437 million — will be used to purchase the 49% of UFC it does not currently own.

Endeavor is a unique conglomeration of sports, media, and agency properties. It also owns sports agency IMG, Euroleague basketball, the Miss Universe Pageant, the Miami Open, and numerous other events and competitions in golf, racing, volleyball, and more. 

The company has represented many of the world’s top tennis players, including Roger Federer, Naomi Osaka, and Serena Williams, as well as Hollywood stars like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

The sports and media giant initially planned to go public in September 2019 but got cold feet a day before its public listing, citing unfavorable market conditions. A year-and-a-half later, Endeavor is seeking a valuation 25% higher than the $8 billion it sought in 2019.

That timing was prescient, given that the pandemic shut down virtually every sport six months later, but UFC returned to action in May 2020.

The NFL season doesn’t start until September, but you can bet on it now.

Sports betting has gone from niche to mainstream phenomenon practically overnight, as more and more states legalize it. The interest of sportsbooks has shifted from setting a stable and accurate betting line to claiming market share.

Traditionally, sportsbooks would wait at least until after the NFL Draft and the season schedule reveal before setting their lines on team win totals and other wagers. And when Las Vegas was the only real hub of legal sports betting in the U.S., the market size was contained.

Now that people can place sports bets in around half the states in the country, the race for customers is on, and NFL win totals are among the more popular lines to bet on. 

As a result, sportsbooks are embracing earlier-than-ever betting opportunities — with all the increased risk and reward that entails.

The sector, still in its early stages, is poised for huge growth. JPMorgan estimated in February that sports betting will grow sixfold from its $1.5 billion 2020 revenue to $9.2 billion in 2025.

Xponential Fitness is in talks to go public — again.

The owner of several boutique fitness brands is circling the idea of an IPO for the second time after acquiring Rumble Boxing for $300 million last month. The company put talks of going public on the backburner when COVID-19 first hit. 

Justin Bieber, Sylvester Stallone, and Equinox Fitness are investors in Rumble, and star athletes like David Beckham have been spotted at classes.

A listing could value Xponential — which also owns Pure Barre, CycleBar, and Club Pilates — at roughly $1.3 billion, per Bloomberg.

While the pandemic took a hit on gyms and fitness clubs, the fitness giant recorded $435 million in revenue last year and opened 240 new studios, expanding into major markets including Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. 

Xponential took over Flywheel Sports and YogaWorks last year, as well.

“We came through the pandemic very well and are pretty much getting back to where we were,” said Xponential founder and CEO Anthony Giesler.

Due to government mandates, 46 of the brand’s roughly 1,800 locations are closed.

A decorated high school wrestling coach and school principal owns a local sandwich shop that is the sole property of a mysterious publicly traded company worth just over $100 million.

Hometown International went public in 2015, it only owns Hometown Deli in New Jersey, and it‘s trading at levels which give the company a market capitalization of $101.5 million.

The president, CEO, CFO, treasurer, and director of this enterprise is Paul Morina, principal and wrestling coach of Paulsboro High School, who has a 550-34-4 career coaching record.

Is this a sandwich shop with a vision and leadership unparalleled among lunch spots in Paulsboro, N.J., or a scam? You decide:

• A lawyer, Gregg Jaclin, who was involved in Hometown International’s SEC filings in 2015 and 2016, has since been disbarred and pled guilty to federal crimes related to shell company scams.
• The deli only booked $14,000 in 2020 revenue, but had $320,000 in consulting costs.
• Chairman Peter Coker’s father owns 50% of a consulting company that has a $15,000/month contract with Hometown International. The only other named company officer is Christine Lindenmuth, a math teacher at Paulsboro High School. 

The company’s SEC filings describe the business as pioneering the “Hometown Deli” concept, which feature “‘home-style’ sandwiches, food items, and groceries in a casual and friendly atmosphere.”