Duke Street is slated to wave the start flag for the sale of its UK go-karting portfolio company TeamSport in 1Q24, two sources familiar with the situation told Mergermarket.

Sellside advisor Harris Williams, appointed early this year, is holding early conversations with potential buyers, one of the sources said. Buyers are likely to come from the private equity side, as there are no obvious trade buyers, the other source added.

The company is expected to be marketed off EBITDA in the region of GBP 15m, both sources said.

Luigi Topco, TeamSport’s parent company, generated GBP 62.9m revenue in FY22-23, up from GBP 60.6m in FY21-22, according to its annual report for the year ended 30 June 2023. Operating profit before amortisation, depreciation and exceptional items amounted to GBP 12.3m in FY22-23, compared to GBP 20.9m in FY21-22.

The company invested more than GBP 15m into the business during the year, while maintaining a strong cash position, the annual report says.

TeamSport is the UK’s largest indoor go-karting operator, according to Duke Street’s website. It has 35 venues across the UK, according to TeamSport’s website. It expanded to Germany in 2022 and to the Netherlands in 2023, in both cases by first opening own sites and then via acquisitions, according to the annual report, and expects significant growth in Germany over the coming 12-18 months.

The growth strategy is focused on continental Europe, one of the sources noted.

TeamSport has a score of 22 out of 100 at the time of publication, according to Mergermarket‘s Likely to Exit (LTE) predictive algorithm.*

Duke Street acquired TeamSport in 2017 in a deal reportedly valued at GBP 40m.

Duke Street, TeamSport and Harris Williams did not respond to requests for comment.

*Mergermarket’s LTE predictive analytics assign a score to sponsor-backed companies to help track and predict when an exit could occur through M&A, an IPO, a direct listing or a deSPAC transaction.