Matchroom Sells 15% Stake to Bruin Capital, Retains Family Control

Matchroom sold a 15 percent stake to Bruin Capital, the sports promotional company announced on Monday morning. The Hearn family will retain majority ownership and continue to oversee the business, with Eddie Hearn serving as Group Chairman and Barry Hearn as Founder and President. Financial terms of the Bruin Capital investment in Matchroom were not disclosed.

Matchroom is based in Essex and is run by father-and-son duo Barry Hearn and Eddie Hearn. He is 77 years old while Eddie Hearn is 46. Matchroom is currently valued at more than £1bn, according to the Financial Times.

That valuation puts the estimated value of Bruin Capital’s 15 percent stake in the region of £150m, The Independent reported. Barry Hearn told the Financial Times he has no plans to step back from the company despite his age. “Cash is nice – the kids can have that, the grandchildren can have that.

I just want to go to work and live longer,” he said. Hearn added that the deal would support a major international push, particularly in the United States. “We’re going to take darts around the world, especially in America,” Barry Hearn continued.

“Darts is something new that we’ve seen numbers around the world we could only dream of, and we’ve created this monster from nothing. ” Eddie Hearn echoed the expansion theme in the company’s press release. “The opportunity for Matchroom in the United States and globally continues to grow,” he said.

George Pyne, the founder of Bruin Capital who previously worked at Nascar and sports agency IMG, welcomed the partnership. “Barry, Eddie, and the Matchroom team have built one of the most important independent sports businesses in the world,” Pyne said. Bruin Capital’s investments include Box to Box Films, the production company that made the Netflix documentary Matchroom: The Greatest Showmen.

Box to Box Films also produced Netflix’s Formula 1 docu-series Drive to Survive. One section of the Matchroom documentary had focused on a potential sale of the company to Saudi buyers. ” The company also promotes Luke Littler, the 19-year-old darts world titlist who competes on the PDC tour, which Matchroom owns and promotes.

The Independent reported that ahead of the documentary’s release Barry Hearn had told the newspaper a minority stake was available. Monday’s announcement confirms that stake has now been sold to Bruin Capital while the Hearns maintain control of the business they built over more than four decades.