Digital sports media and Perform

Firm strongly placed in a strategic position in US

Perform Group plc, the digital sports media firm, has announced a partnership with American Business Journals Inc, an Advances Publications division, for the creation of a new company titled Perform Sporting News Limited.

Having editorial and sales teams in Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte and based in New York, Perform Sporting News Limited will be tasked with enhancing the US and Canada presence and the direct to consumer scale of Perform, announced the company.

The US and Canada advertising and consumer businesses of Perform are brought together by Perform Sporting News Limited. They include the football website goal and the ePlayer sports video platform of the company as well as the digital assets of ACBJ, the Sporting News consumer web division, among them sportingnews.

According to a statement by the press, when combined, the business will reach over to 33 million unique users on average per month and will have a team of 100 technical and sales staff and journalists. It will provide business partners and sports fans with editorial comment, news, statistics and video across a number of sports like the NBA, MLB, College Sports and NHL.

Outside Canada and the USA, the ePlayer and Goal business of Perform and its subscription and distribution business in Canada and the USA will be excluded from the Venture.

65 per cent of PSNL will be owned by Perform while another 35 per cent will belong to ACBJ. When completed, Perform will offer cash and loans equity of $1.4 million and $4.2 million cash equity and ACBJ loans to the Venture in order to provide for its needs for working capital.

The present managing director of the Americas business of Perform, Juan Delgado, will become the Perform Sporting News Limited's managing director and the present publisher and president of Sporting News, Jeff Price, will also become part of the management team as Perform Sporting News Limited president. The responsibilities of Jeff Price will include advertising sales, product innovation and integration.

The Perform's joint chief executive officer, Oliver Slipper, commented on the Venture, saying:

"It excites us to be able to announce the Perform and ACBJ partnership. It brings together the online sports video leading provider with one of the flagship sports media brands of Perform. Perform Sporting News Limited is a perfect way to greatly transform and scale our US and Canada business, as these countries form the most advanced and the largest digital marketplace. It will allow us to establish ourselves as a major player in these markets.

"Through this partnership we will be able to bring about the best editorial, news, data and video content presented by college and professional sports to millions of fans of sports in Canada and the US. Advertisers will be provided with a complete offering of digital sports on mobile and web and across display and video."