The Board of TLA is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of the business and assets of Peter E. Greenberg and Associates, Ltd (“PEG”).
PEG is the pre-eminent representation agency in the Latin American baseball market with an impressive client roster which includes All-Stars Johan Santana and Jose Reyes. Latin America is a highly strategic area for Major League Baseball (“MLB”) clubs and for TLA. Key statistical indicators, which support the rationale for this acquisition, include: almost a quarter of all MLB players are Latin American, of which the key PEG player markets, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, represent 10 per cent and 7.5 per cent of all MLB players respectively. Additionally, it is estimated that approximately 44 per cent of all Minor League Baseball players are from Latin America, which provides further evidence of the growing trend of Latin American ballplayers participating in the MLB.
The acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing. The acquisition has been funded by the placing of 10,869,566 new Ordinary Shares at a price of 23p per share, which were admitted to trading on Friday 9 November. The fully diluted, enlarged market cap of TLA is now £30.12 million.
PEG is highly complementary to TLA’s existing businesses in athlete representation and sports marketing, both through the expected enhancement to TLA’s current baseball business and through the addition of high profile athletes for TLA to represent their off-field endeavours. Following the acquisition, the business will be merged fully into TLA and all senior management will be retained. PEG is based in New York and will join TLA’s existing athlete representation and sports marketing group which is also based in New York.
As a result of the acquisition, TLA will become a leader in the representation and recruitment of Latin American baseball players in the MLB. PEG will also provide TLA with a stronger presence in Asia, the third largest MLB player market, behind North and Latin America and opens up Asia as an export market for TLA’s MLB players, an endeavour in which PEG has had considerable success.
Commenting on the acquisition, Mike Principe, CEO, said,
“We are delighted to have made this strategic acquisition, which cements our position as a market leader in baseball representation. Peter E Greenberg and Associates provide us with a greater presence in Latin America, and secondarily, Asia, as well as a platform to grow wider in the sports marketing sector. We welcome Peter and his team to TLA and are excited as to the enhanced offering and the opportunities we can provide our clients.”
Peter E. Greenberg commented:
“PEG has been providing high quality service, predominantly to Latin American ballplayers for over 15 years and we are very proud of our excellent reputation with our clients and people. We look forward to developing the business and working as part of TLA where we see great benefit to our current and future clients.”