The Bristol-based corporate finance team at accountancy group Smith & Williamson has helped create the world’s largest football memorabilia business through two deals spanning Dubai and Dorset.
First the team handled the sale of a 65% stake in London-based signed memorabilia retailer Icons Shop for £2.6m to Marka, a highly-acquisitive leisure and retail chain focused on the United Arab Emirates’ retail sector.
Then it advised Icons on the purchase of the assets of rival A1 Sporting Memorabilia, based in Christchurch, Dorset, using the investment from Marka. 
Smith & Williamson’s Iain Lownes, pictured, who led the deal with advisor Mark Lord, said: “This was a challenging assignment which involved careful management of the complexities associated with bringing the two deals together, particularly in view of the cross border elements involved.”
Icons managing director Dan Jamieson added: “Icons is the world’s leading football memorabilia brand and the most trusted operation in the game.
“Authenticity is everything to us, as it is everything to our customers. Our new joint venture with Marka enables us to open up our offering to the Middle East and beyond, bringing the millions of dedicated fans there the best choice and quality of sports memorabilia. With the acquisition of A1, we have unprecedented access to, and a wide portfolio of, past and present icons of the game.”
Icons, which was established in 1999, retails exclusive and non-exclusive sports merchandise, with a key focus on football, to more than 90 countries. It was awarded the world’s first signed football memorabilia licence by FIFA in 2010 to produce a range of signed World Cup products.
In 2012 it won the first official licence for the UEFA Champions League and this year announced a licensing deal for UEFA Euro2016 France. The company holds licensing contracts with many of the world’s best players including Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale.
It also handles official signed merchandising from many of the world’s best former players such as Pelé, Diego Maradona and Luis Figo.
Marka, which was created by a group of prominent UAE businessmen and floated on the UAE stock market last year, has already invested a reported 600m UAE Dirham (£103m) in various retail and hospitality ventures in the UAE, including sporting goods firm Retailcorp and the Reem Al Bawadi chain of restaurants.
It will integrate Icons into its Modell’s Sporting Goods stores as well as its newly opened UEFA Champions League Experience in Abu Dhabi’s Yas Mall retail centre.
