A Financial Advisory and Capital Placement Firm NEW YORK - ATLANTA
EFA in the News
EFA Partners Serves as Exclusive Sell-Side Advisor to Autobahn Indoor Speedway for the Sale of the Company to K1 Speed
January 10, 2024
New York, NY (January 10, 2024) – EFA Partners, a boutique financial advisory firm that arranges capital and provides strategic consulting services for entertainment and media companies, announced today that it served as the exclusive sell-side financial advisor for Autobahn Indoor Speedway for the recently completed sale of the company’s 11 karting-themed entertainment venues to K1 Speed, the world's largest indoor go-kart racing operator now with 83 locations in seven different countries and 29 states. The acquisition expanded K1 Speed’s presence into four additional states: Maryland, New York, Wisconsin and Alabama.
Founded in 2012 with its first venue in Jessup, Maryland, Autobahn grew to eleven karting venues throughout the U.S., making it the second largest U.S. chain of indoor karting facilities. The company’s venues offer a premier racing experience to hundreds of thousands of racers every year. From professional racers to novices out to try something new, the venues offer a fast-paced thrill that is exciting for all demographics.
EFA Partners has been Autobahn’s financial advisor since 2018. EFA previously led the effort to arrange the company’s senior debt financing which refinanced its existing debt and also provided growth capital that the company used to upgrade certain venues.
“It has been a pleasure working with Ralph Willis and the EFA team for the past several years,” said Michael Greene, CFO and a founding principal of Autobahn who will assist with transitioning the business. “EFA was previously our advisor and successfully arranged our senior debt. Their understanding of the leisure sector and their industry relationships made them the logical choice to lead our sale effort which culminated in closing the sale to K1.”
EFA’s principals have over 50 years of collective experience in providing financing solutions for film exhibitors and companies in related sectors. They have deep relationships across the move theater industry and also with providers of capital for the industry. The EFA team prides itself on handling its clients’ financing processes from start to finish. For Autobahn, they garnered interest from a targeted list of prospective acquirers, completed comprehensive materials to highlight the business, participated in all phases of negotiations, and assisted with reviewing closing documentation.
“We have had a great relationship with Mike Greene and the ownership team at Autobahn for several years and we appreciated the opportunity to lead their sale process,” said Ralph Willis, Managing Partner and a founding principal of EFA Partners. “They developed and built an excellent platform of karting venues which will be a great fit to expand the K1 footprint within the U.S.”
About EFA Partners
EFA Partners is a boutique financial advisory firm with offices in New York and Atlanta focused on entertainment, media, and technology companies. It provides investment banking services focused on arranging growth capital, mergers and acquisitions, and financial consulting. In entertainment, its targeted sectors include family entertainment centers, movie theaters, theme parks, water parks, concert venues, hotels, casinos, sports, and others. In media and technology, EFA focuses on companies in film/television post-production, film/television distribution, communications services, recorded music, music publishing, and others. Since its inception in 2009, EFA has been retained by over 200 clients, has arranged $1.7 billion of capital, and has advised on $3.7 billion of additional capital.
About K1 Speed
Founded in 2003, K1 Speed is the world's largest indoor electric kart racing operator, with 83 locations in seven different countries and 29 states. K1 Speed is a unique upscale entertainment concept for casual consumers, racing enthusiasts, and corporate or group events. B. Riley Securities was K1’s advisor for the Autobahn transaction.
About Autobahn Indoor Speedway
Autobahn Indoor Speedway, founded in 2012, grew to become the largest 2nd largest karting chain in the U.S. with 11 venues. The company’s platform includes venues in Jacksonville, FL, Memphis, TN; the Washington, DC area (Dulles, VA and Manassas, VA); the Baltimore, MD area (Jessup, MD and White Marsh, MD); Harrisburg, PA, Mokena, IL, Nyack, NY, Birmingham, AL, and Milwaukee, WI.
