Catapult will fund the acquisitions by raising approximately $A100m through a placement to institutional investors ($A68m) and an offer to existing shareholders ($A32m).
Catapult CEO, Shaun Holthouse, said: “This acquisition [of XOS]is highly complementary with Catapult’s strategic focus to cement its position as the global market leader for analytics solutions for elite sports. The addition of XOS will substantially enhance Catapult’s sales network and capabilities in the US, thereby significantly accelerating our strategy to increase penetration of our analytic solutions in the largest addressable market in the world for elite sports.”
Catapult claims to “enlightens sport with scientifically-validated analytics, obtained with the most advanced wearable technology in the world.” It gives as its mission “to be the global standard for monitoring athletic performance at all levels, across all sports.”
XOS helps sports organisations “unlock insight and value from their digital media assets.” It offers software, analytics and services that enable them to preserve and monetise their digital media assets, and to enable coaches to “better scout, recruit, teach and win.” It products include the XOS Thunder HD Coaching Platform, XOS ThunderCloud Suite, XOS Digital Licensing Portal and XOS Vault digital asset management system.
Catapult says the acquisition of XOS will combine “the two key technology pillars in elite club environments … strengthen[ing] Catapult’s strategic positioning and operational platform to accelerate its expansion globally and generate significant synergies, and … enable Catapult to pioneer the development of next-generation products for elite sports which integrates performance data with video analytics.”
XOS, founded in 1999, has almost 100 employees and over 400 professional and college sport clients, including 24 NFL (US) teams, over 100 NCAA Division 1 American football teams, 21 NHL teams, over 50 NCAA Division 1 ice hockey teams, and over 30 NCAA Division 1 basketball teams. Catapult has 115 staff and claims more than 900 “elite sports clients”.
PlayerTek as developed plug-and-play GPS device and software platform that enables individual athletes to compare their data with professional players, as well as get a high-level view at their own volume and intensity. The technology was commercialised in mid-2015 and is already in use by dozens of football and rugby teams around Europe and the UK.
