Details On The Sale Of The XFL, A Timeline, Bidders, And More

With the XFL sale coming to a close, we learned more about how the process started and how it all ended with Alpha Acquico, LLC becoming the new owners of the XFL. Alpha Acquico, LLC is the entity co-owned by The Rock, Dany Garcia, and RedBird Capital. We learned the timeline based on the latest court filings.

To begin the sale of the XFL, Alpha Entertainment LLC (XFL) reached out to Houlihan Lokey to manage the process. They sent out information to 245 different companies and investors to see if there was any interest in acquiring or working with the XFL.

“The Debtor officially commenced the Marketing Process on May 8, 2020, with Houlihan Lokey contacting over 246 potential bidders, representing both financial and strategic buyers/investors. The list of parties contacted by Houlihan included, among others, names suggested by the Debtor’s management team and the Committee. The Debtor’s objective was to cast a wide net in an effort to attract multiple proposals either to purchase the Acquired Assets and/or to invest in the Debtor’s reorganized business through a chapter 11 plan.”

After casting a wide net to find any interest parties, 35 different parties signed NDA’s Non-Disclosure Agreements. This gave them access to the XFL’s financials and data.

“The Debtor executed confidentiality agreements with 35 parties, who subsequently received the CIM and were granted access to the virtual data room containing additional diligence materials pertaining to the Debtor’s business.”

After reviewing all the information presented by Houlihan Lokey, four parties submitted an initial indication of interest. Meaning there were four parties interested in purchasing the XFL and working on a bid.

“Notified potential bidders of the June 22, 2020 deadline to submit initial indications of interest. In response to that deadline, four (4) interested parties submitted initial indications of interest.“

As the July 30th deadline hit Alpha Entertainment LLC received just two formal bids. After a review of the bids Alpha Acquico, LLC’s the one that was a Qualified Bid.

“By the Bid Deadline on July 30, 2020, the Debtor received two Bids. After reviewing the Bids and consulting with the Consultation Parties, the Bid submitted by Alpha Acquico, LLC was deemed to be a Qualified Bid. Prior to qualifying the Bid from Alpha Acquico, LLC, the Debtor engaged in good faith and arm’s length negotiations over the terms of the Bid as it was modified from the form purchase agreement that was provided to all bidders through the data room.”

The other bid was not Qualified, so the bidder decided to back out. That is when Alpha Acquico ie The Rock, Dany Garcia, and RedBird Capital were announced as the new owners of the XFL.

“The other Bid was determined not to be a Qualified Bid and upon discussions with that bidder following that determination, the bidder elected not to proceed with the Bid.”

This crazy journey all started on March 12th when the league announced it was shutting down. On April 10th the league suspended operations and laid off most of its employees. Several days later on April 13th, the XFL declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. By May 8, Houlihan Lokey was in the process of looking for a new owner.

Remember while this was going on, the country was in lockdown. Most states by March 30th put Stay at Home Orders in place. The fact that the sale was able to get done is pretty incredible.