Yahoo: AP report: UFC sells 10-percent stake to UAE

[Clark Kent]

01-12-2010 03:00 AM:After strong whispers over the weekend that multiple trips by UFC officials to Abu Dhabi were to negotiate the sale of a 10-percent minority stak, the news became official today when the promotion released the information to AP:

UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta told The Associated Press that the deal with Flash Entertainment, a subsidiary owned by the emirate's government, was done to create increased value for UFC and help the mixed martial arts league expand in the Middle East and Asia.Neither Fertitta nor Ossama Khoreibi, chairman of Flash, would estimate UFC's worth or say what Flash paid for the newly issued shares in Zuffa LLC, its parent company. Fertitta says terms of the deal are confidential.

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Reports initially surfaced back in October that the UFC was looking for minority investors:

"We made the decision early on that if we were to bring on a partner, it wasn't for financial reasons," Fertitta said. "We didn't need to raise any money, that wasn't the purpose. If we were going to bring somebody it was going to be with someone that could really be a true strategic partner and could help create an increased value for the company long term."

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Flash is now ahead of White in the ownership pecking order. White owns 9-percent, Flash owns 10-percent while the Fertittas, Lorenzo and his brother Frank III, each own 40.5-percent.

The infusion of money also opens speculation that the Fertittas could use the money as a crutch for their struggling gaming company, Station Casinos:

Fertitta would not say what would be done with the money Flash invested or whether it would stay in UFC. Station Casinos Inc., where Frank Fertitta is chairman and CEO and Lorenzo Fertitta is vice chairman, has a pending bankruptcy case in Nevada that is separate from UFC.

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It's all part of the UFC's plan for global expansion:

"The sport has incredible potential and the commercial opportunities were very obvious to us," Khoreibi said.

"We're building a global brand," Fertitta said. "It's never been done before in the fight business."

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UFC is rumored to be holding its first fight card in the middle east on Apr. 10 in Abu Dhabi.


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