According to Reuters , Doug Mack, CEO of sports e-commerce Fanatics, said that the company completed a round of US$1 billion financing led by SoftBank . After the financing, the company's valuation reached US$4.5 billion, more than twice its estimated revenue this year. Mack said the company will vigorously develop its international business in the future.
SoftBank's investment in Fanatics comes from its Vision Fund, which has a size of US$93 billion, making it the world's largest private equity fund. Although SoftBank accounts for the majority of this round of $1 billion financing, NFL and MLB also participated.
was recommended by Fanatics Chairman Michael Rubin to SoftBank. He founded GSI Commerce and received a $100 million investment from SoftBank, and later sold it to eBay for $2.4 billion.
Fanatics is located in Jacksonville, Florida. It sells licensed products for NBA and NFL online, and also includes jerseys from football clubs such as Manchester United and Real Madrid. When Fanatics wanted to raise funds for Hurricane Harvey's victims, it launched the " Houston Strong" series of costumes, and added elements from all teams in the city.
Mack said that although the company has been acquiring, it is still far from the IPO. In April, Fanatics acquired the sports licensed group owned by VF Corporation for $225 million, which owns the sports brand Majestic. Fanatics CEO Mack said in an interview Tuesday that Fanatics currently accounts for about 10% of its total sales in the international market, hoping to use SoftBank's advantages in Asia to increase its revenue in the international market. "The international business will definitely grow exponentially. In the face of global opportunities, we are just grasping some of the fur. Football is the world's largest sport, and then cricket. Our business will gradually expand to major international sports leagues." Mack said that one of the company's advantages is that it can use its technology to quickly produce clothing. Fanatics will use this financing to recruit more engineers, data scientists and designers.
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