Growth Catalyst Partners (GCP), a middle market private equity firm, has acquired The Equine Network in a corporate carve-out from Active Interest Media.
Equine Network is a provider of proprietary sports content, information, and tech-enabled services to the USD130 billion US equine industry. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
GCP partnering with Equine Network’s existing management team, including Tom Winsor, who will become President and CEO, and Andy Clurman, current CEO of Active Interest Media, who will become Executive Chairman of Equine Network.
Equine Network operates three segments: (i) Competitions: owns, operates and serves as the governing body for three of the World’s largest and most renowned sporting competitions in the western equine market; (ii) Memberships: provides roadside assistance services to 40,000 horse trailer owners and members, as well as online learning services to thousands of subscribers; (iii) Marketing Services: eight well-known equine industry information platforms, reaching three million individuals, and 600-plus leading companies who utilise these platforms as a valuable channel for marketing solutions.
“We are incredibly enthused at the opportunity to help Tom, Andy and the Equine Network team to achieve all of the opportunities for growth in the Company’s exciting next phase,” says Jim TenBroek, GCP Managing Partner. “The team has built a great business to date, but the organic and acquisition opportunities to accelerate that growth are tremendous.”
“On behalf of the whole Equine Network team, we are truly excited to be partnering with GCP to continue on our path to becoming the premier sports, information, and services business serving the global equine industry,” says Tom Winsor, President and CEO of The Equine Network. “We are looking forward to GCP’s support and collaboration as we enter this next chapter for our business.”
GCP’s deep expertise in information, data, events, and marketing services business models, coupled with Tom and Andy’s intimate knowledge of the equine industry, provides an ideal partnership framework for Equine Network management to accelerate growth and enhance the company’s strong existing offerings. GCP plans to invest in organic initiatives, as well as M&A, to further transform Equine Network into the leading international sports, information, and services platform serving the equine market globally.
“I’m very excited to join long-time partners Jim TenBroek, Scott Peters, and James Nally at GCP in taking The Equine Network to the next level,” says Andy Clurman, Executive Chairman, The Equine Network. “Combining their skill sets in building world-class enthusiast companies both organically and through M&A, with our team’s passion and experience is an incredibly powerful combination.”
There will be a period of transition over the next several months as Equine Network transitions out of Active Interest Media and establishes standalone operations.
Monroe Capital provided debt financing to support GCP’s acquisition of Equine Network. Lazard served as financial advisor to Active Interest Media in this transaction.
Source: Private Equity Wire
