Antares Capital, Madison Capital and Ares Capital provided debt financing to support MarketCast Group’s acquisition of Turnkey Intelligence, a sports research and advisory firm.
Turnkey will join MarketCast alongside social media analytics and insights firm Fizziology, which was acquired by MarketCast in 2017. The two companies will work in collaboration to provide sports and brand clients with more robust and timely sponsorship and fan experience insights.
Len Perna, selling shareholder and founder of Turnkey, will join the newly-established Turnkey Intelligence Advisory Board, while Turnkey will continue to be led by its current executive leadership team.
“I’m excited for the future of Turnkey Intelligence with MarketCast Group,” said Perna. “For over 20 years, Turnkey Intelligence has been a trusted partner to some of the biggest names in sports. Combining with MarketCast Group and their family of best-in-class companies will allow the team to offer even more to our 250+ clients.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Turnkey Intelligence and this talented management team to MarketCast Group,” said MarketCast CEO Henry Shapiro. “We are media and entertainment research experts, working across film, TV and video games. Adding a data-driven leader in the world of sports research and analytics gives us a 360-degree view into how people spend their free time and invest their passion.”
JEGI, an independent investment bank for the media, information, marketing, and software sectors, served as financial advisor to MarketCast, while Ropes & Gray served as its legal counsel.
MarketCast Group and its integrated consumer insights businesses work in collaboration with makers and marketers across industries throughout the product and content lifecycle, from brand health deep dives to early concept exploration to campaign development to distribution. It is a portfolio company of Kohlberg & Company, a private equity firm headquartered in New York.
