XLMedia will pay $11m upfront in cash, plus an additional $12m, payable over three years.
Founded in 2014, Saturday Football Inc. is a major online publisher of college football news, currently operating two sites; saturdaydownsouth.com and saturdaytradition.com. The former focuses on the South states, with the latter focusing on the Midwest. Together, the sites generate an audience of ten million monthly visits.
“We are delighted to be acquiring Saturday Football Inc., cementing an already extremely productive working relationship,” said XLMedia CEO Stuart Simms. “Over the last twelve months we have got to know the business very well and have been hugely impressed with their team, their systems and most importantly their market reach.
“This transaction provides additional operation depth and reach to our sports footprint which we believe is fast becoming a significant growth driver for our business.
“With the forthcoming US College Football season about to commence, the timing of this transaction couldn't be better with our growing US presence ideally positioned to further support the team at Saturday Football Inc.”
The three founders of Saturday Football Inc. - Josh Gates, Kevin W. Duffey and Jonathan T. Cooper - will remain with the company, and will receive $1m in long-term incentive shares of XLMedia.
XLMedia Head of North America Ken Dorward commented: “We are thrilled to be delivering on XLMedia's strategic vision for Americas sports, and look forward to welcoming the Saturday Football Inc. team, who really complement our existing portfolio as we pursue this once in a generation US opportunity.”
