Inflexion reaps 4x on Goals Soccer Centre exit

The exit represents a 4x money multiple and an IRR of over 50%, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The sale of the Glasgow-based business marks the second exit from Inflexion’s GBP 250m Enterprise Fund IV, which last year sold to US-based trade peer Amphenol for approximately USD 715m, reaping a 6x money multiple and 53% IRR.

According to reports at the time, the sale of Goals kicked off in November 2021 with Clearwater advising.

Under Inflexion’s ownership, Goals deepened its customer offering and efficiency by investing and installing ProTurf, a football pitch surface, as well as, launching a mobile app and a new website, according to the press release.

Inflexion bought the business in October 2019 via a pre-pack administration from the founders for a consideration of GBP 27m, according to Unquote Data. Trade buyer Soccerworld, the vehicle of the founders of Goals, invested in the business as a minority shareholder alongside Inflexion. According to Unquote Data, Goals was delisted from the London Stock Exchange in September 2019 and the company admitted that it may have overstated profits by as much as GBP 40m as it went into administration.

Inflexion Enterprise Fund IV held its final close in May 2016 and has been fully deployed since December 2019. It deployed equity tickets in the GBP 10m-GBP 75m range in exchange for both majority and minority stakes across the UK, according to Unquote Data.

Inflexion and Goals declined to comment.

Company
Goals Soccer Centre was established in 1987 and operates 5, 7 and 8-a-side football match pitches across 400 flood-lit arenas in 44 locations including London and Scotland.

The company reported a turnover of GBP 27m at year-end 2021 versus GBP 22m between the period of 25th September 2019 to 31st December 2020, according to accounts on Companies House. 

People
Inflexion - Matt McKinlay (investment director), Nick Davies (investment executive).

Advisers
Equity (Goals) – Santander; DunPort Capital Management.
Vendor (Inflexion) – Clearwater (corporate finance); Deloitte (financial due diligence).

[Editor's note: The sixth paragraph has been amended to note that Inflexion deployed equity tickets in the GBP 10m-GBP 75m range.]   

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• Topics
• Exits
• Consumer
• UK / Ireland
• United Kingdom
• Inflexion Private Equity