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Fanatics Acquires Distributor WinCraft

The deal will expand the sports merchandise company’s portfolio of hard goods, helping it become a one-stop shop for sports items both online and off.

Sports merchandise powerhouse Fanatics just got a little bigger after acquiring WinCraft (asi/361600), a Minnesota-based distributor of sports-themed hard goods that’s been around since 1961. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

shaking hands

As part of the deal, John Killen, WinCraft president and CEO, will stay on, heading up hard goods across the Fanatics portfolio, according to a report in Sports Business Daily. WinCraft Chairman Dick Pope is retiring. Fanatics plans to keep all existing WinCraft offices and manufacturing centers, and no layoffs are currently planned.

It's the second acquisition in several months for Fanatics, which nabbed Top of the World (TOW) in September, when the collegiate sports headwear company was facing liquidation.

“The combined manufacturing capabilities of TOW and WinCraft working together with Fanatics’ brick-and-mortar retail partners provides a tremendous opportunity to grow the licensed retail space by providing consumers a one-stop shop for apparel and non-apparel items both online and offline,” a Fanatics spokesperson told CNBC.

WinCraft, which generates more than $100 million a year, has more than 700 colleges and professional league licensing deals, including all championship events and an agreement with the Olympics.

Florida-based Fanatics has been concentrating on growing its vertical commerce business and building on its manufacturing and distribution capabilities. In August, the company raised a $350 million Series E funding round, increasing its valuation from $4.5 billion to $6.2 billion.