Private equity firms Bridgepoint and bd-capital are merging two of their portfolio companies in a bid to create an online sports retail giant.
Bridgepoint Development Capital, the mid-market growth-focused team of Bridgepoint, is combining its business Private Sport Shop with bd-capital’s SportPursuit.
The merged business, named Sportscape, currently represents more than €200m of sales across France, UK, Germany and 10 other countries.
The financing of the deal is provided by Permira.
Prior to the merger, Private Sport Shop was a sports and outdoor flash sales business, while SportPursuit was an online retailer which focused on areas in outdoors, snowsports, cycling and performance sports.
Sportscape Group will be led by Sébastien Rohart, the current boss of Private Sport Shop.
He will be supported by the current executives from both companies, with Adam Pikett, current chief executive and co-founder of SportPursuit, taking up the role of chief vision officer overseeing the strategy of the group.
Private Sport Shop and SportPursuit will continue to operate as consumer-facing brands in their home markets.
The group plans to target further M&A activity “across Europe and beyond”.
Private Sport Shop and SportPursuit inked the deal with advisory teams from PwC (financial and tax), Stephenson Harwood (legal), Mayer Brown (legal), and Goodwin Procter (legal).
To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email Sebastian McCarthy
