Minute Media acquires STN Video for $150 million
Minute Media acquires STN Video for $150 million
The sports content unicorn raised around $100 million in debt and equity from HSBC Innovation Banking and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock at a valuation of over $1 billion in order to help fund the deal
Sports content unicorn Minute Media announced on Wednesday that it has acquired STN Video, a leading North American sports content distributor. The value of the deal was not revealed by the companies, but is estimated at around $150 million. Minute Media raised around $100 million in debt and equity from HSBC Innovation Banking and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock at a valuation of over $1 billion in order to help fund the deal.
STN Video holds premium partnerships with every major league in the U.S. alongside an award-winning Online Video Platform, reaching tens of millions of unique users across the web. Minute Media said the acquisition of STN will bring additional technology capabilities, distribution and sports highlight content rights to its ecosystem of owned sports content brands, distribution partners and advertisers.
According to Minute Media, it reaches 200 million monthly users, powering over 1,500 content creators and over 250 distribution partners across 14 global markets in 10 languages. Minute Media, which owns leading sports content brands, The Players' Tribune, FanSided and 90min, has offices in New York, London, Tel-Aviv, São Paulo and Tokyo. It employs 480 people, including 170 in Israel, and has raised around $300 million to date.
“This is Minute Media’s sixth acquisition and its biggest by far,” Founder and CEO of Minute Media Asaf Peled told Calcalist. Peled noted that Minute Media has recently broken even, reaching annual revenue of $320 million.
Headquartered in Victoria, BC, Canada with additional teams in NYC and Miami, STN Video was founded in 2010 as SendtoNews. Today STN is recognized as a leading Online Video Platform (OVP) that brings together premium content, including sports highlight rights from the top leagues in North America.
STN Video is profitable with annual revenue of around $60 million. It employs 70 people who will join Minute Media.
STN Video features an award-winning, robust video platform that complements Minute Media's existing Voltax Video infrastructure. This will enhance the company’s strategic pillars of creating, distributing and monetizing premium sports and culture content. STN also brings to Minute Media a comprehensive video content library of more than 2 million videos featuring content partnerships with all major U.S. sports leagues and prominent entertainment organizations.
“STN Video was built for distribution partners who care about content, user experience and monetization,” said Matthew Watson, CEO of STN Video. “We are thrilled to continue our journey with Minute Media to maximize our global video reach for content providers and advertisers across their unique platforms.”
