Clearlake Capital Group has completed the sale of PrimeSport Holdings to The Carlyle Group, Moorad Sports Partners and RSE Ventures. As part of the transaction, Clearlake and management have rolled over a significant equity stake in the company. Sam Soni, PrimeSport’s founder, remains the CEO of PrimeSport.
PrimeSport, acquired by Clearlake in January 2014, is a provider of consolidated sporting event packages including tickets, travel, hospitality, and VIP experiences for corporations, professional sports teams and fans. PrimeSport maintains partnerships with some of the largest sporting events and organizations in the country including NCAA Championships®, the NCAA® Men’s Basketball Tournament and Men’s Final Four®, Men’s College World Series®, Division I Wrestling Championships, Women’s College World Series®, Women’s Final Four®, Women’s Volleyball Championship and Men’s Frozen Four®, NHL, 20 NFL teams, 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Orange Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Poinsettia Bowl, Chick-fil-A Bowl, and many others. PrimeSport is headquartered in Atlanta (www.primesport.com).
“We are proud to have been the sponsor and backed the PrimeSport team during a period of rapid growth and transformation. PrimeSport extended its leadership in the market, further built its management team, invested in technology and its eCommerce platform, grew and further diversified its event partner base and made a strategic acquisition,” said Behdad Eghbali, a Clearlake founding partner. “We are pleased with the successes we have achieved together thus far and look forward to the next chapter of our relationship.”
Clearlake invests in special situations such as corporate divestitures, recapitalizations, buyouts, restructurings, turnarounds and minority equity investments. Sectors of interest include business services; communication; consumer products and retail; defense and public safety; energy and power; healthcare; industrials; media; software and technology. Clearlake currently manages approximately $1.4 billion of equity capital. The firm was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in New York (www.clearlakecapital.com).
“PrimeSport has completed two acquisitions over the past two years and our plan is to continue to grow the company both organically and through additional acquisitions,” said David Stonehill, Carlyle Managing Director.
Co-investing with Carlyle on the acquisition of PrimeSport are Moorad Sports Partners and RSE Ventures. Moorad Sports Partners pursues investment opportunities in sports-related businesses, including the purchase and management of professional sports franchises. The firm is headed by Jeffrey Moorad, a former sports agent, as well as the former CEO and former minority owner of both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball. RSE Ventures is a multi-national sports and entertainment venture firm. RSE builds, operates and invests in sports, media, entertainment and technology companies. The firm is based in New York and was founded in 2012 by Stephen Ross (owner of the Miami Dolphins) and Matt Higgins (www.rseventures.com).
Lincoln International served as the sole financial advisor to PrimeSport and Clearlake, and KPMG provided transaction advisory services to the company. Carlyle was advised by PricewaterhouseCoopers as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis as legal counsel.
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-17-15