Bruin Sports Capital Acquires deltatre, Looks to Expand U.S. Presence

Bruin Sports Capital has acquired deltatre, whose clients include UEFA, FIFA, the English Premiere League, ATP, BBC, BT Sport and Fox. Under this deal, deltatre CEO and co-founder Giampiero Rinaudo will continue to lead as CEO of the company, which includes offices in Turin, Italy, London, UK and Munich, Germany, as well as in France, Switzerland, India, Singapore, Japan and Australia. Deltatre will also make a push to establish a meaningful presence in the U.S. Rinaudo and his co-founder, Luca Marini, will retain a significant minority investment in deltatre.

According to Bruin Sports Capital, the company’s strong global network, access to long-term flexible capital and vast experience in sports, media and brand marketing will benefit deltatre as the company looks to broaden its portfolio of digital, live streaming and broadcast services, accelerate growth across Europe and Asia and establish a meaningful presence in the United States. Deltatre joins a growing collection of businesses in Bruin Sports Capital’s portfolio of companies, which after just 18 months consists of over 1000 employees in 24 offices in nine countries spanning three powerful platforms – Experiences & Hospitality, Marketing Services and Sports Media & Technology.

“Deltatre is on the cutting-edge of media, technology and sports globally – from live streaming to broadcast solutions to website and mobile application development, they are driving exceptional value for clients and delivering sport to audiences around the world,” said George Pyne, founder and CEO of Bruin Sports Capital. “At Bruin Sports Capital we understand the importance of media and technology as tools for global engagement in sport, and believe with our experience and access to long-term flexible capital we can help deltatre continue to innovate and grow their business.”

Deltatre provides a range of digital and broadcast solutions, including end-to-end OTT platforms, for the world’s largest sport events, influential federations, media partners, and brands.

“Celebrating our 30th anniversary we believed there was still a lot of potential in deltatre, but we understood that the next level of growth needed a new partner that could really support us in our plans and long-term strategy,” Mr. Rinaudo said. “We found in Bruin Sports Capital the perfect partner with a strong focus on the sport business, with significant influence in the media and sponsorship space and with long-term investment vision. Our clients will be the first to benefit from our new ability to make investments that will ensure they are always on the cutting-edge of product and technology.”

Deltatre supports rights holders and owners in delivering multi-dimensional and multi-platform sporting coverage focusing on three different experiences: online, providing truly immersive digital user experiences; onstage, adding value for viewers on venue and on linear TV; backstage, for those who work behind the scenes enabling any other front-end service. The services provided by deltatre range from live streaming technology, the design of websites, mobile apps and a revolutionary video player to the delivery of results, TV graphics and other on venue services (scoreboard, commentator information system and printouts) as well as a comprehensive sport event management system.

Since Bruin’s formation 18 months ago, it has participated in two successful fund raises and announced investments in five companies. In January, Bruin launched a strategic partnership with investor Dan Gilbert and WPP to form Courtside Ventures, an early-stage VC fund focusing on disruptive sports and media technology companies. Last year, Bruin invested in engagement and experiential marketing agency Engine Shop and global sports and entertainment hospitality company On Location Experiences, which recently acquired Jon Bon Jovi’s Runaway Tours and Anthony Travel, the nation’s largest provider of sports travel management services.