Perform sets up North America-facing media business
Live streaming provider to own 65% stake of joint venture with sports media company
AIM-listed live streaming provider Perform has agreed a joint venture with American City Business Journals (ACBJ) to set up a sports media and advertising brand for North America consumers.
Perform’s ePlayer business in the US and Canadian markets, as well as the North America facing sites of its football website Goal.com, are included in the partnership, which will see the new company Perform Sporting News based in New York with sales and editorial teams in Charlotte, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Perform will own a 65% stake in the joint venture, with the remaining 35% owned by ACBJ. As part of the agreement, Perform is entitled to buy out ACBJ’s equity at any time for a pre-determined cash price of US$65 million if completed before 2017, rising to $75 million if the sale takes place before the end of 2018 and $85 million for any time during or after 2019.
Oliver Slipper, Perform joint CEO, said of the deal: “Perform Sporting News Limited is a fantastic opportunity to significantly scale and transform our business in the US and Canada, two of the world’s largest and most advanced digital marketplaces, to become a major player in these territories. Together, we will bring the best news, editorial, video and data content of professional and college sports to millions of sports fans in the US and Canada and provide advertisers with a complete digital sports offering across the web and mobile and across both video and display.”
Last year Perform signed agreements with media company Gannett and the NFL allowing the live streaming provider to roll out its ePlayer product across more than 100 websites.