Australia's Alta Global Group expands with acquisitions of Steppen and MMA community platform The Underground

Mixed martial arts and combat sports industry technology company the Alta Global Group, has completed two significant acquisitions as part of its growth plan to become the “next billion-dollar fitness brand” - as quoted last year by the Australian Financial Review.

Most recently acquiring MMA community platform The Underground, which has been instrumental in growing the sport globally since the 1990s, Alta sees the acquisition as leading its accelerated growth.

Further entrenching its media position within the world of martial arts and combat sports, the acquisition includes media property, The Underground and mixedmartialarts website and its popular discussion forum, The Underground.

Active in the MMA community for 25 years, The Underground has been a keyl brand in mixed martial arts from its earliest days to its current global prominence and is instrumental in growing the sport.

Alta says it has secured a significant foothold in the online combat sports world by acquiring a well-established and indexed URL and pre-eminent platform, which has been operating since 1998.

It says the acquisition opens exciting possibilities to engage audiences and drive customer growth for Alta and its gym partners.

Alta Chief Executive and founder, Nick Langton explained “together, we’re poised to reshape the martial arts and combat sports industry, with increased participation driving growth and revenue for gyms and coaches globally.

Steppen acquisition
In September, Alta announced it had bought youth-oriented fitness app Steppen, furthering its connections with MMA gyms, coaches and participants.

In acquiring the brand Alta plans to leverage its content expertise and talent to better service the app’s user base.

Commenting on the acquisition, Langton noted “the martial arts and combat sports participation sector is poised for incredible growth as interest in MMA at a mass entertainment level surges globally.

“With the acquisition of Steppen, we are setting the stage for a tech-driven revolution which will allow gyms, coaches and participants to harness the power of technology, fostering deeper connections with their communities.”

Adding that Steppen’s innovative platform and expertise in fitness content creation would be a natural fit for Alta, Langton added “this acquisition will help accelerate a technology solution that will allow coaches and gym owners to capture, distribute and monetise their proprietary content more effectively

“This technology will greatly enhance our value proposition and reinforce our mission to uplift the martial arts and combat sports industry globally.”