Fanatics has received a $300 million investment from PE firm Silver Lake Partners, according to a report from Fortune.
The Silver Lake investment, which represents a minority ownership stake in the fan gear retailer, is all for primary shares, meaning that existing Fanatics investors will hold onto their stock.
Fanatics operates fanatics.com and fansedge.com. It also runs more than 300 online and offline stores, including the e-commerce business for all major professional sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, PGA), major media brands (NBC Sports, CBS Sports, FOX Sports) and more than 150 collegiate and professional team properties.
In 2013, Fanatics raised $170 million from Singapore state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. At the time, the funding valued the company at $3.1 billion.
Fanatics is majority-owned by Kynetic LLC, an eBay spinoff that also includes membership-based e-commerce companies Rue La La and ShopRunner. Michael Rubin, the billionaire entrepreneur who founded GSI Commerce and sold it to eBay for $2.4 billion, leads Kynetic.
Over the last several years, Fanatics has made significant investments in its in technology and numerous hires, including appointing Doug Mack as CEO, as it positions itself for growth. The hiring in June 2015 of Lauren Cooks Levitan, formerly managing partner at Moxie Capital LLC, as CFO has led to speculation that Fanatics may attempt to go public in 2016.
