The private equity owners of Kore—an engagement marketing firm that works with hundreds of sports teams, brands and agencies—are exploring a sale of the company, according to multiple people familiar with the process.
Serent Capital has hired William Blair, a boutique investment bank based in Chicago, to assist with the process, said the people, who were granted anonymity because the details are private. There is no guarantee that a deal is eventually done.
This isn’t the first time that Serent has sought a buyer. Sources say the group quietly solicited offers for last year, but no agreement materialized.
It’s unclear how Kore might be valued in the process. Representatives for William Blair, Kore and Serent didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Kore offers a wide range of services, including sponsorship activation, fan engagement, ticket sales, partnership analysis and data analytics. Its clients span global sports and entertainment, including MLS club Real Salt Lake, Dutch soccer team PSV Eindhoven, the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, sneaker maker New Balance and golf equipment giant TaylorMade.
Serent made a “significant growth investment” into Kore in 2018 and has been aggressive in acquisitions. In 2022, Kore bought Hookit, a sponsorship analytics platform, and the pro sports business of SSB, which helps clients with fan engagement, particularly in college sports and university fundraising. It also bought London-based digital marketing firm Sports Alliance.
By January 2023, all three of those purchases had been integrated into Kore’s daily operations, doubling its size. The company also changed its name—from Kore Software to just Kore—noting that “software” was too limiting to its suite of services.
William Blair has worked with Serent in the past. In 2021, it served as the exclusive financial advisor when BirchStreet Systems, a Serent portfolio company, took on a strategic investment from Parthenon Capital. That same year, the bank served as the exclusive financial advisor on the buy side when Restaurant365 bought Compeat, another Serent portfolio company.
Kore was Serent’s second investment in sports management, joining ArbiterSports.
