bd-capital and BDC set to merge SportPursuit and Private Sport Shop

• The merger creates a business with more than $200 million in sales across France, UK, Germany and 10 other countries
• Luke Pikett, managing director and co-founder of SportPursuit, and Yannick Leouffre, managing director of Private Sport Shop, will continue to lead both businesses
• The firms hope the merger will drive growth through organic expansion and support further M&A activity across Europe and beyond

Bridgepoint Development Capital (BDC) and bd-capital have agreed to merge their respective portfolio companies SportPursuit and Private Sport Shop to form Sportscape group. The combination creates a business with more than $200 million in sales across the UK, Germany, France and 10 other countries.

bd-capital is a pan-European investor investing equity of $25 million to $150 million in mid-market companies. “The combination of SportPursuit and Private Sport Shop substantially increases the growth potential of both,” said Andrey Russinov, director at bd-capital. “We are excited to support that growth alongside Bridgepoint.”

BDC is a dedicated team and fund focusing on buyouts and growth capital investments. It looks for investment opportunities in businesses valued up to $250 million. It looks to invest across business services, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing & industrials, technology & media and the consumer sectors.

“We are excited to be working with bd-capital to support the combination of our two investments,” said Jean-Baptiste Salvin, director at BDC. “We have created fantastic alignment between our organisations and look forward to supporting the combined group as we move forward together.”

Sportscape group will be led by Sébastien Rohart, the current CEO of Private Sport Shop. Rohart will be supported by the current executives of both companies. Adam Pikett, current CEO and co-founder of SportPursuit takes up the role of chief vision office, overseeing group strategy. Luke Pikett, managing director and co-founder of SportPursuit, and Yannick Leouffre, managing director of Private Sport Shop, will continue to lead both businesses.

Private Sport Shop and SportPursuit will continue to operate as consumer-facing brands in their home markets. The merger will look to drive significant growth through organic expansion and will look to support further M&A activity across Europe and beyond.

“I am excited to become the CEO of Sportscape Group,” said Sébastien Rohart. “The combination creates a European leader with a unique proposition to our customers and brand partners alike. In particular, the combination of Private Sport Shop’s huge sport coverage and social media presence with SportPursuit’s technology and data expertise creates significant additional growth opportunities, over and above what we could have created individually.”