The big news in the sports industry is the sale of Two Circles, the sports marketing group co-founded and led by today's guest Gareth Balch.
The deal values the company at £250 million (US$317.9 million), representing a big payout for George Pyne's Bruin Sports Capital, which paid $40million for 80% of the company in December 2019, when it bought it from previous owner WPP.
So why is the company that amount of money and what does it tell us about how the finance community values professional sport over the next decade?
Two Circles new home is private equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners, whose partner Chris Warren, was quoted as saying: “We believe Two Circles is emerging as the first digitally native global sports group and will lead the next era for the sports industry to help its clients navigate the changes ahead and fulfil their potential.”
Two Circles has long-term partnerships with some of the most iconic sports properties in the world including the NFL, the IOC, International Cricket Council, LA28, F1, Premier League, UEFA and FIFA. It diversified its services during the Bruin ownership period through the acquisition of premium sponsorship sales agency, TRM, ticketing specialists, SportsInk, technology specialists, Codeware, and the award-winning creative content agency, LiveWire Sport.
Two Circles was also able to invest in joint-ventures with the DP World Tour, Ryder Cup Europe, FIBA and the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to help accelerate the commercial growth of their properties.
Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry.
To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartner
We publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday.
These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport.
Our entire back catalogue of 400 sports business conversations are available free of charge here.
Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and every podcast app.
If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series, you can reach us via the website.
Unofficial Partner Podcast