Perform Group plc announces the proposed acquisition of RunningBall Holding AG, a leading real-time sports data provider, to be effected through the acquisition by a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company of RunningBall’s two immediate holding companies, for a minimum consideration of €101 million and a maximum consideration of €120 million. This is equivalent to a minimum EBITDA p/e of 14 and a maximum of 16 (based on immediate prior year).
Initial consideration of €70 million will consist of €20 million in cash, financed from existing cash resources, and €50 million in the form of 13.5 million new ordinary shares in the Company that will be issued to the sellers. The number of New Ordinary Shares is based on the average closing mid market price of Perform’s ordinary shares and average closing mid-point sterling:euro exchange rate over the 30 trading days preceding 15 May 2012. Deferred consideration of between €31 million and €50 million will be payable entirely in cash and will be financed from new debt facilities. Total consideration will be based on a nine times multiple applied to the audited EBITDA of RunningBall for the year ended 31 December 2012.
RunningBall is a leader in the real-time sports data sector. In 2011 it produced real-time data coverage of over 35,000 sporting events (including over 30,000 football matches), producing over 1,000 items of data in relation to each match, and within the field of football is already one of the most comprehensive real-time data services available anywhere in the world. In 2012 it is anticipated that RunningBall will increase its services to include coverage of over 40,000 events. RunningBall has always specialised in the provision of real-time data making it one of the most experienced operators in the sector. RunningBall currently engages more than 1,100 scouts in over 70 countries to gather real-time information on live sports events around the world. RunningBall is headquartered in Switzerland, with operational centres in Austria, Portugal, Cyprus and Malaysia.
For the year ended 31 December 2011, RunningBall had revenue of €16.1 million and EBITDA of €7.2 million, up 20.1% and 75.4% year-on-year respectively.
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