Admission to AIM

RNS Number : 5645T

TLA Worldwide PLC

08 December 2011

 



TLA Worldwide plc

Admission to Aim and First Day of Dealings 



NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA OR THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND OR IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH OFFERS OR SALES WOULD BE PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW

For Immediate Release

8 December  2011

TLA Worldwide plc

("TLA" or the "Group")

Admission to AIM and First Day of Dealings

TLA, the athlete representation and sports marketing business, is pleased to announce the admission today of its ordinary shares to trading on the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM") of the London Stock Exchange ("Admission") and the commencement of dealings in the ordinary shares under ticker symbol "TLA".

Highlights

·      The Group raised £11.96 million of new investment from a range of institutional and other investors by a placing of new ordinary shares at a price of 20 pence per share.

·     The net proceeds of the placing, in conjunction with a US$10 million debt facility, will be used to fund, on Admission, the consolidation of two US based private companies operating in the athlete representation and sports marketing sectors: Legacy Sports Group and The Agency Sports Management. 

·     On Admission to AIM, the market capitalisation of the Group at the placing price will be £12.7 million.      

·     Experienced Board with strong industry and business expertise.

Cenkos Securities plc is the Company's Nominated Adviser and Broker.

Bart Campbell, non-executive chairman, TLA Worldwide commented:

"The successful admission to AIM represents an important platform for the company and we believe that, following our entry onto the market as an enlarged group, we can build substantially on our current position.  We are merging two independent but complementary businesses that are growing organically in isolation and we will look to accelerate this position by creating a full-service, market leading baseball-centric agency providing a broader range of services in an integrated offering to the market under one strong brand."

For further information, please contact:

Cenkos Securities
Ivonne Cantu/Liz Bowman (Nomad) Julian Morse/Alex Aylen (Sales) Pelham Bell Pottinger Dan de Belder/Rosanne Perry	0207 397 8980 0207 397 8928 020 7861 3232

Overview

TLA's aim is to become the pre-eminent, fully integrated representation and marketing services provider initially to the baseball industry and, over time, to a range of other sports.  The Group, which will have offices in London, Los Angeles and New York, will combine baseball talent representation with sport marketing, management and event capabilities.  

Major League Baseball ("MLB") is a long-established sport in the United States with an attendance at MLB games of 73 million in 2010 and gross revenues of approximately US$7 billion. MLB attendance is larger than the annual total combined attendance for NFL (American Football), NBA (Basketball), and NHL (Hockey). By UK comparison, the combined attendance of the English Premier League in 2010 - 2011 was 13.4m.  The scale and economics of the sport create an attractive environment for agencies involved in player representation, media, marketing and events.

Of all Major League sports baseball has the highest value, longest term and most guaranteed contracts, providing highly visible and forward contracted revenue.   The fundamentals for a business in this industry are most compelling as the sport is stable, healthy and well run by MLB and Major League Baseball Players Association ("MLBPA") alike. Even in the current recession or economic challenges baseball salaries and industry revenue have continued to increase. 

The founders of the Group are Mike Principe and Bart Campbell who identified an opportunity to consolidate and professionalise the baseball athlete representation sector and create a full service offering by combining it with a sports marketing capability.

Legacy is a leading baseball representation business headquartered in Newport Beach, California. Legacy was founded in 2004 and represents a growing client roster of professional major league baseball players including 13 MLB All Stars, rising stars and top prospects.  Its team of agents have a combined expertise in contract law, negotiation, finance, statistics and marketing.

The Agency is based in New York City and was founded in 2000.  The Agency is a leading full-service independent marketing and management company specialising in the representation of high-profile personalities and brands. The Agency clients include high profile stars across sports and entertainment.

The combination of the businesses creates a strong platform for growth.  As a unified group, TLA will have the opportunity to offer additional commercial opportunities to its baseball clients with the ability to identify, negotiate and monetise off-field endorsement opportunities as well as post-playing career broadcasting contracts.  In addition, the combined network of the Group creates a stronger platform to recruit new representation clients and to identify new opportunities across the portfolio.

The vendors from both businesses have transferred significant equity into TLA demonstrating their confidence for future growth and commitment to the business. 

The Company's future strategy includes expanding its pool of representation clients both through organic growth and through acquisitions, taking advantage of opportunities within the Group which are not currently being executed on and developing new sporting events.

Board

Bart Campbell, Non-Executive Chairman

Bart Campbell is the Chief Executive of the sports marketing and management business, Essentially Group plc which is part of Chime Communications plc.  He is a member of the executive board of Chime and is COO of the Chime Sports Marketing division which has 420 staff in ten countries.

Mike Principe, CEO

Mike Principe most recently served as the managing director of Blue Entertainment Sports Television ("BEST"), an industry leader in sports marketing, management and production which was recently acquired by Lagardere.  Mr. Principe brings nearly 15 years of experience in sports and entertainment deal making, management, and operations.

Greg Genske, Executive Director

Greg Genske became CEO of Legacy in 2004.  Mr Genske has served as lead negotiator for the contracts signed by Legacy clients dating back to 2004. Mr. Genske has advised amateur athletes in the MLB and NFL drafts, including the first pick overall in the 2004 and 2008 MLB drafts.

Peter Moore, Non-Executive Director

Peter Moore has been COO of Electronic Arts Inc. ("EA") since August 2011.  Mr. Moore has more than 25 years experience in gaming, entertainment and consumer products.  As President of EA SPORTS from 2007 to 2011, he was responsible for strategic leadership of the brand, from product development to global marketing and planning for all packaged goods and digital services. Prior to joining EA, Mr. Moore was Corporate Vice President of the Interactive Entertainment Business of Microsoft Corp.

Keith Sadler

Keith Sadler has been Group Finance Director of Digital Marketing Group plc since 2009.  Mr. Sadler was formally CEO and Group Finance Director of weare2020 plc, a marketing services company.  Prior to this he was Group Finance Director and Company Secretary of The Wireless Group plc and two quoted regional newspaper publishers, News Communication and Media plc and Bristol United Press plc.

 

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