H.I.G. Europe to Acquire Lagardère Sports
HAMBURG – February 20, 2020 – H.I.G. Capital, LLC (“H.I.G.”), a leading global private equity investment firm with over €31 billion of equity capital under management, is pleased to announce that one of its affiliates has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Lagardère Sports (the “Company”) in a transaction from the Lagardère Group. The Lagardère Group will retain a minority shareholding of 24.9%. The transaction is subject to clearance by the relevant antitrust authorities.
Lagardère Sports is a leading global sports marketing firm providing sponsorship, media, brand consulting, as well as event management, and athlete management services. It employs approximately 1,300 full-time employees and generates annual sales of more than €450 million. The Company, which will be rebranded following the completion of the sale, has long-standing relationships with major brands and rightsholders in the sports market and leverages a truly global network of partners and customers.
Following the closing of the transaction, the Company will be led by a new CEO, Stefan Felsing, a highly experienced executive in the sports marketing industry. For almost 20 years, he has held multiple leading management positions within Lagardère Sports and various predecessor companies.
“The global sports marketing segment is a multibillion Euro industry with attractive long-term growth prospects fueled by the continuously increasing popularity of sports and the digitization of sports marketing services. H.I.G. is looking forward to drive the business to the next level together with a truly global management team,” commented Christian Kraul-von Renner, Managing Director at H.I.G.
Stefan Felsing added: “I am looking forward to returning to a former place of work in the context of my new responsibilities. Lagardère Sports has enormous potential, particularly given the Company’s unique culture and the long-standing trusted partnership with its customers. Together with H.I.G., a strong and experienced investor, we are ideally positioned to continue building on these great assets. We are ready to leverage the full potential of the firm.”
About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over €31 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused / value-added approach:
- H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
- H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
- H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices
Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of €27 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.hig.com.
* Based on total commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.