Private equity firm Apollo Global Management has completed a $510 million purchase of "American Idol" owner CKx, the two companies announced on Wednesday.
In addition to "Idol," CKx also controls the rights to Elvis Presley's likeness and name and the hit show "So You Think You Can Dance."
The cash tender offer of $5.50 takes the publicly traded entertainment company private.
The price is approximately a 40 percent premium over CKx's average closing price over the past six months.
The sale was more or less a foregone conclusion for more than month. Last May, Apollo obtained the support of The Promenade Trust, the sole beneficiary of which is Lisa Marie Presley and which is the company's partner in Elvis Presley Enterprises, and Robert F.X. Sillerman, the company's largest stockholder.
Gleacher & Company and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as financial and legal advisor to CKx.
AGM Partners LLC acted as lead financial advisor to Apollo. Other financial advisors to Apollo include Goldman Sachs & Co. and Evolution Media Capital. Legal advisers to Apollo include Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
