The AP and Fox Sports on Thursday night announced that they have sold their joint holding in sports data services company Stats LLC to S.F.-based private equity firm Vista Equity Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed. Stats has steadily built a dominant profile within the data service industry since its formation in ’81, and more recently expanded into advance analytics such as player tracking through its SportVU holding. The AP and Fox put the company up for sale late last year, and bidding heated up in recent weeks. But the deal to Vista still arrived quicker than many observers had been expecting. Fox Sports President & COO Eric Shanks in a statement said, “It’s been a privilege to partner with the AP and .... help grow Stats into one of the most innovative sports technology and information companies in the world.” AP President & CEO Gary Pruitt similarly called the partnership with Fox “excellent and productive,” and both outfits will maintain existing business relationships with Stats to exchange content. Vista Equity Partners has more than $12B in committed capital in its portfolio, and its holdings include The Active Network, which manufactures software for participatory sports management. The Raine Group served as the financial advisor to the AP and Fox.
