Australian sports analytics company Catapult has purchased Boston-based XOS Digital in a $60M deal that expands upon a prior product partnership developed last year in which the two companies jointly sold a combined coaching solution. Catapult has additionally made a separate acquisition of Irish GPS tracking firm PlayerTek for about $3.5M. Catapult said the XOS Digital acquisition carried a transaction multiple of 2.4 times annual revenue of $25M and 10 times EBITDA of $6M, and that the deal will likely accelerate its own path to profitability during its FY ’17. The company intends to retain the XOS Digital and PlayerTek brand names and personnel for the foreseeable future. XOS Digital HQ also will remain in Boston. The two deals expand Catapult’s overall player tracking capabilities significantly, particularly in joining the company’s own base in wearable technology with XOS Digital's position in custom digital video-based coaching solutions. Catapult, publicly traded in its native Australia, is raising more than $76M to help fund the acquisitions and grow the new assets. Goldman Sachs is aiding in that effort. Catapult and XOS Digital have more than 1,300 pro and college sports clients between them, with fairly little overlap. “We’ve been particularly focused on the elite tracking space, but these deals are key parts of our vision to expand well beyond that and into other segments of the market,” said Catapult North America President Brian Kopp. “We consider these acquisitions transformative deals for us.”
