PMY Group, the venue, events and infrastructure technology solutions provider, will accelerate its international expansion plans after securing a significant investment from sports, media and entertainment private equity firm Bluestone Equity Partners.
Neither the stake nor the value of the minority investment was immediately disclosed by the two parties. However, the transaction is understood to be worth about US$30m (A$45m).
The deal marks PMY’s first-ever institutional capital raise and Bluestone’s inaugural investment since closing an opening US$300m growth equity funding round earlier this year.
Bluestone was launched in the first quarter of 2023 by Bobby Sharma, a former executive at the NBA basketball league and the IMG agency. Sharma will join PMY’s board of directors and PMY will relocate its headquarters from Melbourne to the United States.
Founded in 2009 by Paul Yeomans, PMY works with venues, events and infrastructure builders around the world to optimise operations and drive revenue growth. The company designs, implements and manages a broad range of solutions, including venue and crowd intelligence, digital scoreboards and billboards, acoustics and noise control, experiential lighting, security and surveillance, as well as control room and production technologies.
In the US, PMY – through its wholly-owned design firm WJHW, which was acquired in 2021 – has worked on numerous professional sports venue developments. According to PMY, this includes 29 of the 30 most recent facilities in the NFL American football league – including SoFi Stadium (pictured), where video production, broadcast systems, scoreboard and sound system support was provided – as well as 28 of 30 in Major League Baseball, and more than half of the new Major League Soccer facilities.
“PMY aligns perfectly with Bluestone’s mission to partner with strong and scalable blue-chip businesses, and will serve as a cornerstone of the strategic growth equity portfolio we’re building,” Sharma said.
“Through hard work, strategic and accretive M&A, and great leadership, Paul and his management team have built an incredible business with a massive addressable market.
“PMY’s value-add has become more relevant and impactful in the sports, media and entertainment industry over time, and now serves critical needs for a wide variety of infrastructure, including large public facilities such as airports, universities and stadiums and arenas.”
Yeomans, PMY’s founder and CEO, added: “Over the past 14 years, PMY has delivered impressive performance and growth by leveraging technology to help venues of all types deliver a safe, secure and engaging experience.
“We intend to leverage the new investment from Bluestone to accelerate PMY’s growth through both organic and inorganic expansion opportunities as we strive to support the fast-growing infrastructure technology market. We see Bluestone as a true partner and look forward to benefitting from the firm’s expertise across sports, media and entertainment as we continue to grow all over the world.”
