Don’t tell Michael Blumenfeld you can’t go home again. Collegiate Pacific, of which he is founder/chairman/CEO, has agreed to buy a majority share of rival Sport Supply Group (SSG)–which he’d founded in 1991.
Dallas-based Collegiate Pacific is paying $32 million in cash for a 53.2% share of $90 million SSG. According to David Solomon, managing director and partner at New York-based investment bank Goldsmith Agio Helms, this is a multiple of 15.1 based on trailing 12 months EBITDA as of March.
But Solomon, for one, thinks the deal is a good one for Collegiate Pacific, as it gives the company a presence in the elementary/middle-school market, the out-of-school private youth league market, and the public-school bid system. In addition to selling via various catalogs, including BSN Sports and Macgregor Team Sports, Farmer’s Branch, TX-based SSG sells to institutional, team, and consumer buyers via the Web. In contrast, the $100 million-plus Collegiate Pacific sells primarily to institutional and team dealers.
Terry Babilla, SSG’s chief operating officer, will assume the title of president as well. Blumenfeld was elected chairman/CEO of SSG.