The Thread Shop, the merchandising division of Sony Music Entertainment, has struck a deal to acquire UK music merch company Probity Europe.
The deal comes at a challenging time for the sector as Covid-19 impacts sales for tour-based merch.
Probity Europe provides worldwide tour, retail, e-commerce and licensing services. Under the agreement, it will become a new entrepreneurial division of The Thread Shop and continue to be led by founder Mark Stredwick. He and the existing Probity team based in London will continue to foster the ongoing relationships with their roster of artists, including Metallica, Noel Gallagher, Oasis, Paloma Faith, Rage Against The Machine, Robert Plant, Van Morrison and more.
In addition, The Thread Shop and Probity teams will aim to drive new business opportunities around the world. Stredwick will report to Howard Lau, head of The Thread Shop.
Sony Music’s in-house merchandising business is home to artists including The Beatles, Camila Cabello, Jimi Hendrix, Maluma, Led Zeppelin, Lil Nas X, Pink and Rosalia.
In addition to the ongoing organic growth of its business and roster over the last several years, The Thread Shop expanded its operations in 2019 with the acquisition of the music merchandise division of theatrical production and entertainment merchandising company The Araca Group.
Howard Lau said: “We are very pleased to be further enhancing the reach and competitive capabilities of The Thread Shop around the world with the welcome additions of Mark Stredwick and the Probity team. Probity is an established independent leader in the European merch market representing some of the world’s most iconic music artists. Together we can offer our artist clients and the music community an even more robust set of merchandising opportunities to complement their music revenues, branding, and marketing.”
Mark Stredwick said: “We are delighted to fully cement the organic relationship we had already developed with Howard and Sony Thread Shop. The deal with Sony allows our growing roster to tap into more opportunities globally and benefit from innovative and creatively driven merchandising programs that Thread Shop deliver with such passion.”
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