Perform In Talks To Buy London-Based Sports Data Firm Opta For A Reported $63M

Sports media business Perform "is in advanced talks to buy" London-based supplier of sports statistics Opta Sports Data, according to Katherine Rushton of the London TELEGRAPH. Opta's venture-capital backer, Albion Capital, is understood "to have put the company up for sale" for around £40M ($62.8M). A deal "is expected within the next couple of months." Opta was founded in '96 by Toby Russell, "collecting information such as which football players achieved the most passes in a given match or which parts of the pitch the most goals were scored from." It counts BSkyB, U.S. newspaper USA Today, and the NBA "among its clients." Opta turned over just more than £10.8M ($17M) in the 12 months to July '12, the last full-year available, and had just tipped into the black with a pre-tax profit of £345,000 ($542,000) (TELEGRAPH, 6/16).