Mailman takes US$15 million stake in European sports consultancy

Mailman, a Chinese sports marketing agency, has made a controlling investment into European sports specialist consultancy, Seven League. Sources close to the company claim the deal to be worth around US$15 million.

A press release describes the creation of "the world’s leading global sports digital agency" after the deal, but the two companies will actually stay separate with no name changes. Seven League will continue to operate in Europe and Mailman in China under their own brands, but they will form a "unique east-west partnership".

Mailman and Seven League both work with global sports properties, including Bundesliga, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, the NFL and more.

“As major sporting codes continue to grow internationally, as [sports] team brands become more ‘brand centric’, navigating the international digital-media platforms and [extracting] local insights become more important," Andrew Collins, CEO of Mailman, said in the release.

SI Partners provided consultancy services on the majority stake for the acquirer Mailman. This is unusual because SI normally represents the seller. Alyssiah Tsui, a partner at SI Partners, said the deal "sets the undertone China is now having on the future of sports".