Quintus, the sports and entertainment group, has acquired SBI Group, in its latest move to create a business of significant scale and diversity.
SBI Group was founded in 1985 as Sponsorship Bureau International, and the award-winning sponsorship consultancy has provided a base for expansion into property ownership in recent years. Current consulting clients include Robinsons, John Smith’s, Daily Telegraph, Citroen, Pernod Ricard UK (including Jacob’s Creek), Prima Poker, pokerzone, Intercasino, The Barbarian FC and the International Rugby Hall of Fame.
SBI Group owns and promotes the Challenger World series of inter-company team building events, including the Microsoft UK Challenge – Europe’s largest event of its type – the Cisco Euro Challenge and, new for 2005, the US Challenge in association with Fortune Magazine.
More recently, SBI Group has developed a market-leading position in Triathlon, staging the Michelob Ultra London Triathlon, now the world’s biggest mass-participation triathlon, and successfully launching The Blenheim Triathlon and The London Duathlon in 2005.
Peter Worth, CEO of Quintus said “This acquisition represents the continuation of Quintus’ strategy of not only building its own properties through organic growth, but also bringing into Quintus companies who share the same philosophies.
“SBI is one such company and we are absolutely delighted that Rod Alexander, Rob Mason, Andrew Finan and their team have chosen to become a part of Quintus, where their proprietary events will sit perfectly within our own portfolio of properties that currently include The Masters Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall, The Marsh Classic Tennis at The Hurlingham Club and the London Bierfest, as well as 3D surface branding. Quintus does not own a sponsorship consultancy and we are delighted to be able to secure a leading player in this arena.”
Rob Mason, Managing Director of SBI said “Andrew and I are very pleased to be joining forces with a company that has ambitious plans for the future, alongside a similar culture and complementary events and businesses. Collectively, the team is very enthusiastic about being part of what is now a significant player in the marketplace.”
All SBI Group businesses will retain their existing trading names.
Quintus: Call Vicky Carling on 020 7351 7499 or email vcarling@quintusgroup.com
SBI Group: 020 7559 2800
Notes to Editors
Quintus was founded in 1991 in order to create and market intellectual property rights in the field of sport and entertainment. Quintus is involved in sponsorship, corporate hospitality, event management and television rights.
Quintus owns and manages a number of proprietary events such as The Masters Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall, The Marsh Classic at the Hurlingham Club, the London Bierfest and the Boodles Legends Tennis Classic at Mottram Hall.
Quintus is also the sanctioning body on the ATP Champions Tour outside of USA and Europe. Quintus has rights in other events including the HSBC World Match Play golf at Wentworth and the Wales Rally GB, the UK leg of the World Rally Championship.
Quintus has recently acquired worldwide 3-D signage rights by purchasing Three-D-Signs International, the company that owns the worldwide patents to 3-D surface branding. 3-D surface branding makes use of a technology where logos are applied to the surface using carpets or simply painted onto the pitch and appear to be standing upright when viewed through a television camera.
Quintus also manages bespoke events for corporate clients including conferences, staff incentives and client entertainment events.