Hollywood conglomerate Endeavor cancels public offering at last minute amid broader IPO-market struggles

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• Hollywood conglomerate Endeavor Group canceled its initial public offering plans at the last minute amid broader IPO-market turmoil.
• One such example was Peloton's disappointing opening-day performance, which saw it suffer the third-worst open for any mega-IPO since the financial crisis.
• The company called off the offering Thursday afternoon and said it would continue to evaluate market conditions to better time a public offering.
• The surprising reversal follows several IPO slumps throughout the year. Nearly half of the 120 companies to go public in 2019 are trading below their offer price, according to CNBC.
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

Endeavor Group canceled its plans for an initial public offering after aiming to raise as much as $619 million in the sale.

The Hollywood conglomerate called off the IPO Thursday afternoon, saying it would continue to evaluate market conditions to better time the offering. Endeavor initially planned to offer 19.4 million shares for $30 to $32 each, but later lowered the offer price to between $26 and $27 per share. The updated offering also slashed the shares for sale to 15 million.

"Demand is strong, just at values below this range," a source familiar with the plans told CNBC.

Read more: A hedge fund manager who oversees $2 billion lays out the road to profitability for Uber and Lyft - and explains why they have a unique bull case compared to WeWork

The surprising turn of events follows a streak of IPO disappointments though 2019. Nearly half of the 120 companies that have gone public this year are trading below their offer price, according to CNBC.

Here are some of the biggest IPO headlines in recent months:

• Peloton hit markets Thursday and sank 11% by market close, wiping out more than $900 million in investor wealth on its first day of trading.
• WeWork was set to IPO before the new year, but canceled the plans after founder Adam Neumann stepped down as CEO September 24.
• Rideshare giants Uber and Lyft both trade more than 30% lower than their offering price.
• Slack trades nearly 20% lower than its IPO price.

Endeavor's top two executives, Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, built the agency and secured an acquisition of the United Fighting Championship for $4 billion in 2016. The company merged with the William Morris Agency in 2009.

The company was expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticket "EDR."

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