Suitors have made offers to acquire obstacle course series Spartan Race Inc. this year as the company seeks additional capital.
Spartan Race retained Piper Jaffray to circulate a prospectus earlier this year, multiple sources said. The company originally sought a $100 million valuation but found little interest at that price, sources said.
Founder and CEO Joe De Sena said the race series is looking only for investors. “We have not been looking for a buyer but have been talking to potential investors, some of who have tried to buy,” he said. “But we are not sellers.”
De Sena declined to address specifics but said he is “torn” between bringing on new partners and not.
Launched in 2010, Spartan Race is one of the emerging obstacle race industry’s top two properties along with Tough Mudder. Spartan Race operates events, mostly in North America, that range from three to 26 miles and include features such as a fire jump, the barbed wire crawl and the monkey net. Entry fees run from $105 to more than $175, and Spartan Race says nearly 750,000 people participated in 2015.
It is not profitable. Raptor Consumer Partners acquired a minority stake in 2012, but Spartan Race is otherwise held by its founders.
Obstacle races exploded in popularity in the first half of this decade, but enthusiasm has cooled considerably since 2013 with many smaller properties dying out and expansion slowing.
Spartan Race has a marketing and broadcasting deal with NBC Sports Group and has a prominent relationship with Reebok. However, De Sena acknowledged in October that race fees still make up a majority of revenue.
“You’re essentially buying participant dollars, so we need to believe that participant growth will continue over the long term,” a sports investment banker said. “Not sure I buy into that.”
