Blackstone acquires CCG

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

Jay, I hear you. I was very surprised by the $500mm valuation. My guess is that their comic and currency/coin business is the driver of valuation. But there’s so much PE money out there right now - I wouldn’t be surprised if they paid a heavy premium.

I don't know the profit margins on the coin grading side, but TONS of brand new coins get sent in to NGC for grading.

[yanks87]

CGC is the gold standard in the Comic Book realm, so it makes me wonder if the addition of CSG was to "round out" their offering in order to entice a buyer. I am putting my business up for sale if anyone wants to buy a one man design shop....wait a minute, that means I would have to keep working, just for someone now. DAMMIT, I did this all wrong.

Maybe I should start a grading company. 2 grades, Yes (it's a card) No (it's not a card). I'll be sure to get a flashy sticker for my grades, and stupid wait times for grading as well as ever increasing submission costs (they just went up) and I will be rolling in the cash in no time.

[CK]

PE investments by nature are made with the exit plan in mind. It can be a roll up of similar businesses to create a new juggernaut or to entice larger players to take a swing at a major acquisition at some point in the future.

I’d say the plan is to improve sales, lower operational costs, and enhance investor value in the short term before this company realizes it’s next, or potential final, resting place.

The investors listed in the OP’s link are money men, plain and simple. As an example of worlds colliding, I received recent PSA submissions back in an advertising box for StockX. If you’re unfamiliar, StockX is a company who started out trading limited release sneakers. They’re now dabbling in selling trading cards, Louis Vuitton bags, T-shirts, and Rolex among other luxury brands.

[Casey2296]

I bought Blackstone at 45, it's currently 90, I'll probably let them pay for an overpriced Ty Cobb in a current auction that I want for my collection.