IRONMAN, which owned by Wanda Sports Holdings, announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement to acquire Lagardère Sports' endurance division, which includes races in three continents and eight countries. 

This agreement will see IRONMAN own and/or operate five International Triathlon Union (ITU) events, four marathons, six cycling races, and a number of other participation events. These events are expected to serve an estimated 140,000 participants in 2016.

"Lagardère Sports has built innovative and world-class events which, when added to our global event portfolio, further builds our company and strengthens the entire endurance business under the roof of Wanda Sports Holding," said Andrew Messick, Chief Executive Officer of IRONMAN. 

Christian Toetzke, currently CEO of Lagardère Sports endurance division, will join IRONMAN's global executive team as Chief Development Officer and Global Head of Cycling.

With this acquisition, IRONMAN will now own and operate the ITU World Triathlon Hamburg, ITU World Triathlon Leeds, ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi, ITU World Triathlon Stockholm and ITU World Triathlon Cape Town. 

With IRONMAN’s current ownership of the ITU World Triathlon Gold Coast, it now owns and operates six of the nine events in the ITU World Triathlon Series.

Source:ap.ironman.com