RedBall Acquisition Corp (NYSE: RBAC) is a new blank-check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses.
While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any industry or sector, we intend to focus on businesses in the sports, media and data analytics sectors, with a focus on professional sports franchises, which complement our management team’s expertise and will benefit from our strategic and hands-on operational leadership. Our management team represents a unique combination of operating, investing, financial and transactional experience.
Leadership
Board & Management
Volkert Doeksen is the Co-Founder of AlpInvest Partners, a private equity group launched in 2000. While at AlpInvest, Mr. Doeksen served as Chairman of the Board, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, where he scaled their business to become a world-class global private equity firm with over €45 billion of assets under management and over 155 employees across three continents. During his tenure, AlpInvest became a prominent Fund of Fund co-investment, secondaries and mezzanine investment firm. Prior to founding AlpInvest, Mr. Doeksen was a Director and Investment Partner at Kleinwort Benson Limited, where he was involved with the U.S. fund’s private equity and mezzanine transactions as well as with launching Dresdner Kleinwort Benson’s new private equity fund initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe and Mexico, where he was a member of the investment committee and partner in each of those funds. From 2015 until 2019 Mr. Doeksen served as a Senior Advisor to The Carlyle Group. He is currently a Member of the Board at Nouryon B.V., a specialty chemical producer in Amsterdam; a Member of the International Advisory Board at Van Lanschot Kempen, the oldest wealth management firm in the Netherlands; and a Member of the Board at Athora Holdings, Bermuda. He holds a Law degree from Leyden University, the Netherlands.
Based on Mr. Doeksen’s substantial experience in financial services, capital markets, private equity and asset management, we believe he is qualified to serve on our board of directors.
Deborah A. Farrington is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of StarVest Partners LP, a New York City based venture capital firm investing in technology-enabled business services with a focus on software-as-a-service, data & analytics and internet marketing. It was founded in 1998 and is one of the largest women majority-owned venture capital firms in the US. She also serves as President of StarVest Management LLC, the firm’s management company. StarVest was an early investor in Software-as-Service (“SaaS”) investing in NetSuite, the first SaaS ERP company, in 2000; Ms. Farrington served as Lead Director and Chair of NetSuite’s Compensation Committee from its 2007 IPO to its sale to Oracle for $9.2 billion in 2016. Ms. Farrington is an experienced public company director of technology, business services and Fortune 500 companies and has chaired or served on all major board committees over the past 20 years across multiple facets of technology and financial services. Currently, Ms. Farrington is a Director, Chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, and a member of the Audit Committee of Ceridian HCM Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CDAY); a Director, Chair of the Governance Committee and member of the Risk Committee of NCR, Inc. (NYSE: NCR); and a Director, Chair of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Audit Committee of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT). Prior to founding StarVest, Ms. Farrington was President & CEO of New York-based private equity firm Victory Ventures LLC; Managing Director of Asian Oceanic; and an investment banker and Division Director of Merrill Lynch International in New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo. She is a graduate and Trustee of Smith College where she serves as Chair of the Smith College Investment Committee with responsibility for overseeing Smith’s $2 billion endowment. She holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, where she has endowed a Fellowship for Women Entrepreneurs and served on the Visiting Committee and as Vice President of the Alumni Board. Based on Ms. Farrington’s substantial experience as a public company director and committee member and experience in asset management and venture capital, and capital markets, private equity and asset management, we believe she is qualified to serve on our board of directors.
David Grochow is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of RedBird Capital Partners, which he joined in November 2018. From March 2010 to November 2018, Mr. Grochow served in various financial positions at Irving Place Capital, an investment firm, most recently as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to Irving Place Capital, David worked for six years in the Private Equity Group at The Blackstone Group. David Also spent time with Geller & Co. and Arthur Andersen. David received a B.B.A. degree from the Goizueta Business School and is a Certified Public Accountant.
From 1999 until the start of 2019, Richard Scudamore was the Chief Executive and then Executive Chairman of the Premier League, the most watched football league in the world. During this period, Mr. Scudamore was accountable to the club owners for all elements of the league’s operations including regulatory, legal and political matters, and the sale of broadcasting and central commercial rights across 225 international markets. Under his leadership, the organization used the strong platform provided by its 20 Member Clubs to successfully increase interest in the competition to become the most watched in the world, grow revenues significantly and invest in and support football development at all levels of the sport. During his time at the Premier League, Mr. Scudamore became Chairman of the World League’s Forum and co-chaired the UK Government’s Sports Business Council. Mr. Scudamore was a Founding Trustee of the Football Foundation – a charity funded by the Premier League and the UK Government which has installed or improved over 3,000 community sports facilities across the UK since 2000. Before joining the Premier League, he was Chief Executive of the Football League. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice-President of the Thomson Corporation, responsible for their US newspaper publishing division. Mr. Scudamore currently sits on the advisory board of The Ryder Cup and provides strategic advice to Major League Baseball and Australian Professional Football. Based on Mr. Scudamore’s substantial industry knowledge and significant management experience, we believe he is qualified to serve on our board of directors.
Richard H. Thaler is a Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences and is the Charles R Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, and Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, where he has served since 1996. Prof. Thaler is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Prof. Thaler’s research lies in the gap between psychology and economics. Prof. Thaler is considered a pioneer in the fields of behavioral economics and finance and is the author of numerous academic articles and the books including, The Winner’s Curse, Nudge (with Cass Sunstein) and Misbehaving. Prof. Thaler is a regular contributor to the New York Times “Economic View” column. In 2015, Prof. Thaler served as President of the American Economic Association. Prof. Thaler is a distinguished fellow of the American Finance Association, a fellow of the Econometric Society, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Science. Prof. Thaler also serves as a principal of Fuller $ Thaler Asset Management in San Mateo, CA, an asset management firm co-founded by Prof. Thaler in 1999, which manages approximately $9 billion.
Prof. Thaler has also served as a Senior Advisor to PIMCO since January 2019. We believe Prof. Thaler’s knowledge of economics and finance and his leadership experience in asset management will provide unique insight to our board and qualifies Prof. Thaler to serve on our board of directors.
Lewis N. Wolff has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Wolff Urban Management, Inc., a real estate acquisition, investment, development and management firm, since 1994. Mr. Wolff acquired co-ownership of Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics in April 2005 and also ownership of Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes in July 2007. Previously, he was an investor in the St. Louis Blues National Hockey League Team and the Golden State Warriors National Basketball Association team. Mr. Wolff is also Co-Founder and, since 1994, has served as Co-Chairman of Maritz, Wolff & Co., a privately held hotel investment group that manages top-tier luxury hotels. Mr. Wolff and his partner, Flip Maritz, most recently closed the sale of the Rosewood Hotel & Resort Management Company and Maritz, Wolff & Co. assets included The Carlyle Hotel, Little Dix Bay Resort, The Mansion at Turtle Creek and the Inn of the Anasazi – Santa Fe, New Mexico. Mr. Wolff has served on the Board of Directors of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE: SHO), the Board of Directors of First Century Bank, Vice Chairman of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, and co-Chairman of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, a hotel management company formed by Fairmont Hotel Management Company and Canadian Pacific Hotels & Resorts, Inc. from 1999 through summer 2004. Mr. Wolff currently serves on the Board of Directors of Bobrick Washroom Equipment and Santa Clara University Board of Regents. Mr. Wolff holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He received his MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. Based on Mr. Wolff’s substantial experience in acquiring and owning sports franchises and in managing public and private companies, we believe he is qualified to serve on our board of directors.
Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC (“RHGM”), co-founded by Condoleezza Rice, Stephen J. Hadley, Robert M. Gates, and Anja Manuel, has been retained as an adviser to the company. RHGM LLC is an international strategic consulting firm based in Silicon Valley and Washington, DC that works with companies to develop and implement their strategic plans and to expand in major international markets. As part of this engagement, Condoleezza Rice and the other three RHGM Principals will serve as Special Advisors to the company. Condoleezza Rice previously served as the 66th Secretary of State from 2005-2009, Stephen Hadley as National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, Robert Gates as the 22nd Secretary of Defense for both Presidents Bush and Barack Obama, and Anja Manuel as a senior State Department official.
Sponsor
Our sponsor is an affiliate of RedBird Capital Partners, a principal investment firm focused on building high growth companies with flexible, long-term capital in partnership with entrepreneurs and families. RedBird has over $4.0 billion in assets under supervision and has led equity and co-investments across 23 portfolio companies since its launch in 2014. RedBird has made investments across the sports and media sectors, including media rights, player likenesses and premium live event hospitality and content. The firm’s investment mandate is predicated on a highly entrepreneurial, company-building mentality, where its patient capital, investor network and strategic relationships enable business founders to achieve their corporate objectives. The deep business-building and investing experience of Mr. Cardinale and Mr. Scheiner complement Mr. Beane’s team-management expertise, creating a group capable of identifying attractive investments and executing deals across the global sports landscape.
Contact Us
Investor Relations
Media Contact
Gagnier Communications
Dan Gagnier – dg@gagnierfc.com | (646) 342-8087