Fanatics CEO Doug Mack said that the company has closed a $1B funding round led by SoftBank Group's Vision Fund, which will "give it the firepower to expand internationally," according to Liana Baker of REUTERS. The new funding will value the Jacksonville-based company at $4.5B, which is "more than twice" the $2B in revenue expected this year. Mack said that Fanatics is "hoping to expand its revenue in international markets by leveraging SoftBank’s expertise in Asia." Fanatics, which handles online sales for EPL club Manchester United and La Liga club Real Madrid, "currently gains" about 10% of its sales internationally. Mack said, "It will definitely grow many-fold from there. We’ve only scratched the surface of the global opportunity. ... You’ll see us extend our rights to international leagues." Baker reports SoftBank is "making the bulk of its investment in Fanatics" out of its $93B Vision Fund, the world’s biggest private equity fund. Fanatics is also "looking to hire more engineers, data scientists and designers with the cash." Mack added that an IPO or sale "isn't on the horizon" (REUTERS, 9/6).
GETTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER: Fanatics Founder & Chair Michael Rubin said SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and Vice Chair Ron Fisher were "my original investors in my old company," GSI Commerce, with $100M invested. That company sold in '11 for $2.4B, "so we've had a great longstanding relationship with Masa and Ron for nearly 20 years now." Rubin: "When they started a division fund they were looking for really disruptive companies -- they made a lot of money in Alibaba -- and looking for kind of what's next in e-commerce and it made for a really easy deal to happen." Rubin: "We think of ourselves primarily as an e-commerce company. We're the largest sports licensed sports company in the world." Rubin noted companies like Amazon and Alibaba “are two incredibly successful e-commerce platforms but they're selling other people's products. For us, the company is primarily vertical. Most of what we sell are our own products, and then we leverage that same inventory to all the retailers as well.” Rubin said, "For us, the great thing about leagues and teams is they’re looking to build their direct-to-consumer business ... (and) the leagues and teams want to sell it through their own platforms as the primary distribution channel" ("Squawk Box," CNBC, 9/6).
