Goals lines up takeover talks with Canadians

FIVE-a-side football pitch operator Goals Soccer Centres is expected to confirm today that it is in takeover talks with a Canadian pension fund.

It has been reported that the private equity arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has made an approach to the board of Goals to take the company private, although the discussions are understood to be at an early stage.

A spokesman for the East Kilbride-based company yesterday declined to comment on “speculation”.

The pension fund owns Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which houses a number of Canadian sports assets, including the Toronto FC Major League Soccer team. It is thought the fund would provide the capital for Goals to expand its international presence. Currently, the company operates 42 centres in the UK and one in Los Angeles.

In February, Goals said it had grown sales by 9 per cent to £30.4 million, while pre-tax profits rose 21 per cent to £9.2m. Chief executive Keith Rogers also announced the firm had devised a “game-changing” modular build concept, which cuts the cost and time required to develop pitches.

Goals has been the sole listed operator of five-a-side football venues since Powerleague was taken private by Patron Capital in 2009.

The firm has added ten centres to its estate in the past two years – most recently at Hull, Liverpool, Norwich and Sunderland – and increased capacity by 31 per cent as a result. It has identified a pipeline of about 40 potential sites.