LOS ANGELES, Sept. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — MarketCast Group, a global leader in the consumer insights industry, announces today that it has acquired Turnkey Intelligence, a preeminent sports research and advisory firm. Turnkey Intelligence has been providing best-in-class research, consulting, and analytics to teams, leagues, agencies, and brands for more than 20 years, offering a full suite of data-driven services – including fan experience tracking, sponsorship valuation and efficacy, ticketing strategy, and creative/media optimization – to hundreds of sports clients. Their solutions range from full- to self-service and are led by industry experts with more than 100 combined years of experience.
Turnkey Intelligence, headquartered in the Philadelphia area, joins the MarketCast Group alongside global social media analytics and insights firm Fizziology, which was recently acquired by MarketCast last year. The two companies will work in collaboration to provide their sports and brand clients with even more robust and timely sponsorship and fan experience insights. MarketCast Group is a portfolio company of Kohlberg & Company, a leading private equity firm headquartered in New York.
“I’m excited for the future of Turnkey Intelligence with MarketCast Group,” said Len Perna, selling shareholder and founder of Turnkey Intelligence. “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.” Mr. Perna will join the newly-established Turnkey Intelligence Advisory Board, while Turnkey Intelligence will continue to be led by its current executive leadership team consisting of talented experts in the fields of sports research, analytics, branding, and sponsorship evaluation.
“We are thrilled to welcome Turnkey Intelligence and this talented management team to MarketCast Group,” said 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.”
“We are pleased to support MarketCast Group’s acquisition of Turnkey Intelligence, and look forward to continuing to support the company going forward,” said David Lorch, Vice President at Kohlberg & Company. “This acquisition, our second add-on in the past year, provides a significant step forward in MarketCast Group’s goal of becoming the global leader in the consumer insights industry.”
JEGI, a leading independent investment bank for the media, information, marketing, and software sectors, served as financial advisor to MarketCast, and Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal counsel to MarketCast. Antares Capital, Madison Capital, and Ares Capital provided debt financing for the transaction.
About Turnkey Intelligence
Turnkey Intelligence offers customized, informed, and actionable solutions to a wide range of sports, live event, agency, and brand-side clients. Turnkey’s areas of expertise include sponsorship measurement and evaluation, advertising effectiveness, customer experience management, brand tracking, pricing optimization, customer segmentation, and more. Turnkey Intelligence’s self-service platform – Audience Portal – is used and trusted by hundreds of sports teams of all sizes. Since 1996, Turnkey Intelligence has been the sports industry’s leading provider of full-service research and data analytics.
About MarketCast Group
MarketCast Group (www.marketcastgroup.com) consists of three integrated consumer insights businesses: MarketCast (www.mcast.com), Insight Strategy Group (www.insightstrategygroup.com), and Fizziology (www.fizziology.com). These companies 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. MarketCast is a leading provider of data-driven marketing research services and
data analytics for the global entertainment industry. Acquired in 2015, Insight Strategy Group is a consumer research and strategy agency that leverages deep social science expertise to fuel brand growth, new product introductions, and service and content innovation. Fizziology, acquired in 2017, is a provider of social insights and analytics that uses real-time global conversation to create actionable insights for marketers and creators. MarketCast Group is a portfolio company of Kohlberg & Company, a leading private equity firm headquartered in New York.
About Kohlberg & Company
Kohlberg & Company, L.L.C. (“Kohlberg”) is a leading private equity firm headquartered in New York. Since its inception in 1987, Kohlberg has organized eight private equity funds, through which it has raised $7.5 billion of committed equity capital. Over its nearly 30-year history, Kohlberg has completed 72 platform investments and over 150 add-on acquisitions, with an aggregate transaction value in excess of $15 billion. For more information, please visit www.kohlberg.com.
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Sep 10, 2018, 15:01 ET