Editor’s note: This story is revised from the print edition.
The timetable for Learfield’s sale is moving fast.
Bids for the collegiate marketing and media giant are due this week, industry sources say, and management presentations will begin around mid-August.
Moelis & Co.’s Los Angeles office is running the bid process and sale for Learfield, which is mostly owned by Rhode Island-based Providence Equity Partners. Moelis is an investment bank and financial services firm.
Providence, a private equity firm with investments in sports entities like Chime Communications and Topgolf, bought a majority stake in Learfield in 2013.
Sales decks about Learfield’s financials went out to prospective buyers earlier this month. A specific asking price was not included in the Learfield book, sources said, but the college agency, with marketing and media rights at 120 schools, projects 2016-17 earnings of $100 million before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Its fiscal year runs July 1 to June 30.
Most industry insiders put the over/under for the sale price at $1 billion. Learfield sold for $570 million three years ago, sources say.
Learfield has grown substantially during the three years under Providence’s ownership, mostly through acquisitions. It’s that flurry of deals and rapid earnings growth that has Providence motivated to sell, insiders say.
The company has acquired 10 businesses, ranging from Nelligan Sports to ANC, GoVision and Sidearm Sports in the past 27 months. During that time, Learfield’s employee count has doubled from 500 to 1,000. The new companies are considered complementary to Learfield’s core business.
The question potential buyers will have to answer is how much growth is left in the company, whether it’s the core business of multimedia rights or the new acquisitions. While Learfield has significantly diversified its revenue streams through the acquisitions, multimedia rights still account for close to 80 percent of its EBITDA, sources say. That largely includes a school’s radio network and advertising, TV content, corporate sponsorships, hospitality, promotions, publishing and in-venue signage.
Learfield also has working partnerships with Levy Restaurants for concessions and IMG College for ticketing.
Learfield will not confirm that the business is for sale and has not publicly commented on the sale price in 2013.
