World Wrestling Federation Entertainment (WWF), the media empire founded on faked fights between choreographed body-builders, will carry a $1 billion (€954 million) price-tag in a Nasdaq stock exchange listing.
The valuation placed on the company in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing yesterday confirms the phenomenal popularity of performers such as The Undertaker, Hardcore Holly and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
It will also value the personal shareholding of Mr Vincent and Ms Linda McMahon, the husband and wife team who founded WWF, at between $790 million and $900 million.
After the offering, they will control 84 per cent of the company's shares and 98.3 per cent of the voting rights.
WWF, which competes with Time Warner's World Championship Wrestling, has spawned a number of lawsuits as well as the political career of Jesse "The Body" Ventura, who shocked the political world when he was elected governor of Minnesota. The listing documents detail pending legal action from three performers who dispute the ownership of stage names such as Demolition and Ultimate Warrior, and from the family of Owen Hart, a performer who died during a pay-per-view event in May.
The documents also detail the rapid growth of WWF. Revenues have grown from $81.9 million to $252 million in two years, and a $6.5 million net loss in 1997 has been turned into net earnings of $56 million.
WWF programmes rank as the most popular regular cable TV shows in America. WWF also publishes magazines, videos and compact discs, and estimates that sales of its branded merchandise reached $400 million last year.
The offer, led by Bear Sterns, consists of 10 million shares at $14-$16 each, with an option to top the offer up with a further 1.5 million shares.
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