London, 18 December 2017. Apera, a pan-European mid-market private debt investor, today announces that it has agreed to provide debt facilities to support Duke Street’s acquisition of TeamSport Indoor Karting (“TeamSport”), the leading operator of indoor go-kart tracks in the UK.
TeamSport, led by managing director Dominic Gaynor, operates 24 tracks across the UK, including five in London, and expects to accelerate its rate of growth under Duke Street’s ownership. TeamSport manages five times more tracks than the next largest operator.
The debt financing package, provided by Apera, comprises of a £15 million unitranche facility and a £7.5 million acquisition facility, which will enable TeamSport to proceed with its new track rollout strategy.
Dominic Gaynor, Managing Director at TeamSport, said: “We are pleased to have found a collaborative financing partner in Apera. This solution will enable us to deliver our long-term strategy for the company and realise its significant growth potential.”
Jason Lawford, Partner at Duke Street, said: “We have worked with members of the Apera team over many years and their speed in responding to our requests and flexibility in meeting our needs on this transaction was impressive. They quickly bought into the TeamSport strategy and listened carefully to our requirements. The result is a financing package that is ideal for the next phase of the company’s growth.”
David Wilmot, Founding Partner at Apera, said: “We are delighted to have completed our first investment working alongside the TeamSport management team and Duke Street. TeamSport is the clear leader in the operation of go-karting facilities in the UK and has demonstrated consistently strong financial performance. We look forward to supporting the business in its future development.”
About Apera
Apera is a pan-European mid-market private debt investor operating in the DACH region, the UK, the Nordic region, France and Benelux. The firm develops long-term partnerships with private equity investors, SME borrowers, and advisors by providing tailored financial solutions that meet both the operational needs and growth objectives of clients, whilst producing attractive returns. Apera is focused on bringing a new standard of transparency to the private debt market.
About TeamSport
TeamSport was established in 1992 and completed a management buyout from its founder in 2013, With just eight tracks in 2013, TeamSport, led by managing director Dominic Gaynor, now operates 24 tracks across the UK, including five in London, and expects to accelerate this rate of growth under Duke Street’s ownership.
The UK go-karting sector is highly fragmented, comprising more than 200 mainly independent, single-site operators. TeamSport’s next largest competitor has four sites. The company has achieved impressive growth in recent years through a combination of like-for-like sales improvement, new site openings and enhanced performance from acquired tracks.
TeamSport’s business combines enthusiasm with professionalism, providing exciting karting .experiences at high quality facilities with excellent customer service. It offers indoor tracks of up to 1km in length, which include multi-level karting, banked corners, flyovers and ramps as well as hairpin bends, chicanes and fast straights. On-site restaurants and bars are also available at its venues.
About Duke Street
Duke Street is a leading operationally focused European mid-market buyout group. Founded in 1988, it invests across four sectors: healthcare, services, consumer and industrials. Duke Street has a proven model of value creation by successfully transforming businesses through implementing operational change and buy-and-build, having made approximately 60 bolt-on acquisitions for its portfolio companies. The firm is currently investing its Cornerstone Fund, provided by Goldman Sachs and Arcano and is also supported by its strategic partner and shareholder, Tikehau Capital, an asset management group investing across private debt, real-estate, private equity and liquid strategies, with €11.1bn of assets under management and €2.3bn of shareholders’ equity.
Duke Street adopted a deal-by-deal funding model in 2012, leading co-investment in six transactions with a combined enterprise value of approximately £800m. Two realisations so far from this model have delivered a combined return of more than 3x.
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