The Legacy Agency Worldwide has agreed to key terms of an acquisition by Atlantic Alliance Partnership Corp. that would value the company at about $140 million.
TLA Worldwide has a major MLB representation practice and a marketing practice that represents athletes and personalities throughout sports. AAPC has offered to exchange its shares at a rate that values TLA shares at about 94 cents a share, an amount that equals $141.5 million.
Atlantic Alliance, formed last year for the purpose of making acquisitions, is traded on Nasdaq. TLA Worldwide was formed in 2012 and is currently traded on the London Stock Exchange, AIM, but would trade on Nasdaq if a deal is consummated. It is unclear whether TLA would continue to trade as a separate listing.
The companies quietly disclosed the news of the potential acquisition late last month.
There was no confirmation that the acquisition would be completed. TLA declined comment on the story, and Atlantic Alliance did not return an inquiry for comment. After the announcement, TLA’s share price rose more than 35 percent from March 24 to March 30.
TLA was formed when the former Legacy Sports Group, the baseball representation firm run by MLB agent Greg Genske, merged with athlete marketing company The Agency, run by agent Jordan Bazant, in January 2012.
TLA expanded its business with the acquisition of Peter Greenberg & Associates, another baseball representation practice, in November 2012. That acquisition created an agency that represented about 60 MLB clients. The firm, based in New York, later expanded into corporate consulting and event management and ownership, and it has offices in California, the United Kingdom and Australia.
The merger and additional acquisitions were orchestrated by Michael Principe, CEO of TLA. Before TLA, Principe worked on two of the biggest rollup acquisitions in sports: the creation of the former SFX Sports and the creation of the former Blue Equity Sports Television.
SFX Sports, which was created in the late 1990s and early 2000s through the acquisition and integration of multiple sports agencies, dissolved in the years after its parent company, SFX Entertainment, was acquired by Clear Channel Communications. BEST, which was formed essentially the same way as SFX Sports — through the rapid-fire acquisition of boutique sports agencies — was acquired by Paris-based Lagardère Group in 2010.
Principe declined an interview request last week.
The player salaries in MLB, where TLA’s on-field deals are concentrated, are among the most lucrative in sports, as there are fewer limits on salaries and no salary cap.
TLA already has a star-studded roster of clients in MLB, including Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa and Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar. TLA also represents multiple athletes and sports personalities for non-playing work, including Philadelphia Eagles running back DeMarco Murray, golfer Patrick Reed and Olympians Lolo Jones and Kerri Walsh Jennings.
