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Recently, in the Q3 earnings call, Stephanie McMahon mentioned that mergers and acquisitions are one of the areas for potential growth. During a recent appearance at the Wells Fargo TMT Conference with analyst Steven Cahall, McMahon was asked about this.
>“Just to give some examples of what I meant by that, [an acquisition] has to align with our capabilities, whether that’s smaller wrestling promotions, say, internationally,” McMahon said.
Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics speculates that WWE may be interested in companies in Mexico and Japan.
>“For a quick survey of Japan, Bushiroad owns New Japan Pro Wrestling, the leader there, as well as Stardom, the women’s wrestling promotion, which is probably the fastest-growing company in the region.Additionally, CyberAgent owns Pro Wrestling NOAH, DDT Pro-Wrestling, and Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling. NOAH would be among the biggest companies in Japan after New Japan’s wide lead. Dragongate and All Japan Pro Wrestling, I believe are more independently owned. The Japanese companies owned by large parents like Bushiroad and CyberAgent seem to me less likely to be acquired, but then again if one of those conglomerates ended up in cost-cutting mode in a major economic recession, it’s conceivable they, like Sinclair Broadcasting did earlier this year with Ring of Honor, might look to sell their wrestling assets. In Mexico, the major two companies have long been AAA Lucha Libre Worldwide and CMLL. Both have been family-owned for decades,” Thurston wrote.
