The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has officially launched its ‘phase one’ merger inquiry into Sportradar’s proposed acquisition of IMG Arena.
The phase one investigation will commence on 1 September, having been announced today, 29 August.
The competition watchdog has set a deadline of 24 October for a decision to be made on whether to push the inquiry into a phase two investigation.
The 24 October deadline can be extended by the CMA in “certain limited circumstances”.
Phase one involves the CMA speaking to various stakeholders, including Sportradar and IMG Arena, to assess potential competition concerns.
The CMA will aim to determine if the merger would result in a “realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition”.
If that is found to be the case, the CMA will then launch the in-depth phase two assessment.
Phase two will be limited to 24 weeks, while an independent panel will oversee this stage of the investigation, should it reach that point.
The CMA opened its preliminary investigation into the merger on 11 July, as it issued an invitation to comment from interested parties as part of an information gathering process.
The invitation to comment window closed on 25 July.
It was announced in March that Sportradar had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire IMG Arena from Endeavor.
However, Sportradar will not pay to acquire IMG Arena. Instead, Endeavor will pay the New York-listed firm $125m, along with handing $100m in cash prepayments to certain sports rightsholders.
IMG Arena’s existing portfolio covers 70 rightsholders and 39,000 official data events across multiple sports.
At the time of the deal being announced, Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl said: “Given our proven track record of maximising ROI through our global betting rights deals and our strengthened position across tennis, basketball and soccer, we are confident in our ability to realise the full economic potential of this portfolio.
“In addition, the unique structure of this transaction accelerates our revenue and cash flow profile and will be immediately accretive to our margins.
“The addition of these strategic rights will unlock new growth opportunities, enabling us to deliver exceptional value to our partners, clients and shareholders.”
Sportradar previously said it expects the deal to close in Q4 2025.
EGR has contacted Sportradar for comment.
The CMA remains involved in Spreadex’s planned acquisition of Sporting Index, with the process still not having reached a conclusion thus far.
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Watchdog to determine if proposed transaction could result in the “substantial lessening of competition” in the marketplace
The post CMA opens ‘phase one’ inquiry into Sportradar’s acquisition of IMG Arena first appeared on EGR Intel.