PCGS PARENT COLLECTORS UNIVERSE PURCHASED

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V23 2020 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 23, Number 49, December 6, 2020, Article 11

Billionaire investor Steve Cohen has purchased Collectors Universe, parent of third-party grader PCGS together with sports card entrepreneur Nat Turner. The company says its headquarters will remain in Santa Ana, California. The deal takes the public company private again. It's unclear what operational changes are planned, if any, but its core businesses will likely be unaffected in the short term. -Editor

Cohen Private Ventures, which invests the personal capital of hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen, is teaming with Dan Sundheim's D1 Capital Partners and sports card collector Nat Turner to take collectibles-grading company Collectors Universe Inc. private for about $700 million.

The deal represents a 3.7% premium to Friday's closing price of $72.55. Shares of the Santa Ana, California-based company have more than tripled this year as consumers dedicate more time to hobbies like collecting during quarantine and lockdowns. Collectors Universe provides authentication and grading services to buyers and sellers of memorabilia, including sports cards, coins and vintage autographs.

"Collecting sports cards and connecting with like-minded hobbyists has been a lifelong passion," Turner said in a statement Monday. The investors "are committed to bringing the resources and expertise necessary to expand the company's operational capacity and technological capabilities."

Turner co-founded Flatiron Health Inc., which was sold to Roche Holding AG in 2018, and advertising technology platform Invite Media, which Google bought in 2010.

Cohen Private Ventures makes long-term, primarily direct investments on behalf of Cohen and his family. Cohen, owner of investment adviser Point72 Asset Management and, more recently, the New York Mets, is worth $10.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

"I was contacted a few weeks ago by a market research firm asking detailed questions about the PCGS business model and the landscape of the numismatic marketplace. I now suspect this was a due diligence effort on the part of the Collectors Universe purchaser."

To read the complete article, see:
Steve Cohen and D1 Capital Team Up For Collectors Universe (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-30/steve-cohen-and-d1-capital-team-up-to-buy-collectors-universe) Collectors Universe to be Acquired by Investor Group Led by Entrepreneur and Collector Nat Turner for Approximately $700 Million

To read the Collectors Universe press release, see:
(https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/11/30/2136654/0/en/Collectors-Universe-to-be-Acquired-by-Investor-Group-Led-by-Entrepreneur-and-Collector-Nat-Turner-for-Approximately-700-Million.html)