Matchroom sells minority stake to US investment firm Bruin Capital.
Sports advertising company Matchroom has announced that it has sold a minority stake to a US investment firm.
News broke on Monday morning that Bron Capital had acquired a 15 per cent stake in Matchroom, known primarily for its boxing, darts and snooker competitions.
Based in Essex, Barry and Eddie Hearn run Matchroom, which Barry started in 1982.
A press release read: ‘The Hearn family will retain majority ownership and continue to oversee the business, with Eddie Hearn serving as group chairman and Barry Hearn as founder and president.’
“Financial terms were not disclosed. Braun will join Matchroom’s board of directors.”
A report by the Financial Times suggested that Matchroom is currently worth more than £1bn, which is in line with comments made in last year’s Netflix documentary. Matchroom: The Greatest. This figure would put the estimated value of Bron’s stake in the region of £150m.
Part of this docu-series focused on the potential sale of Matchroom to Saudi buyers. Prior to the show’s release, Barry Hearn said, ‘Free that a minority stake was poised to take over.’ When asked if his family could ever leave the matchroom entirely, he said softly: “It would have to depend on the price.”
And Barry, 77, told the Financial Times this week: “Cash is good – the kids can have it, the grandkids can have it. I just want to go to work and live longer. We want to push big in America. We’re going to take darts all over the world, especially in America.”
“Darts is such a new thing that we’ve seen numbers around the world that we can only dream of, and we didn’t make this monster out of nothing. If you’re going to make a monster, where do you want the biggest one to be? Maybe America.”
Eddie Hearn, 46, echoed that sentiment in Monday’s press release, saying: “The Matchroom opportunity continues to grow in the United States and globally. This partnership with Braun gives us the ability to accelerate that expansion and build on the platform we’ve built.”
Meanwhile, Bruin founder George Pine – who formerly worked at NASCAR and sports agency IMG – said in a press release: “Barry, Eddie, and the Matchroom team have built the most important sports business in the world.
“Matchroom sits at the intersection of live events, global media rights, and premium sports intellectual property, and we see significant opportunities ahead, particularly in the US.”
One of Bruin’s investments is Box to Box Films, which produced Matchroom: The Greatest Showman and Netflix’s Formula 1 docu-series Drive to Survive.
Matchroom counts former heavyweight champion boxer Anthony Joshua and darts world titleholder Luke Littler among its big names. “AJ”, 36, has signed with the promotional company, while Littler, 19, competes on the PDC Tour, which Matchroom owns and promotes.
