Norton1973
4年前
IPOF, key people: Chamath Palihapitiya (Managing Partner, Social Capital), Ian Osborne (Co-founder/CEO, Hedosophia), Richard Costolo (Fmr CEO, Twitter), Sarah Leary (Co-founder, Nextdoor; Venture Partner, Unusual Ventures)
Mr B
4年前
Sportradar? We can only hope we are the one!!!
Source: Sportradar Reaches Deal To Go Public Via SPAC
Company valued at $10-$12 billion in recent weeks as rumors of partnership have swirled
Matt Rybaltowski by Matt Rybaltowski March 2, 2021
pointsbet-illinois-temporary-approval
(Shutterstock)
Sportradar has come to terms with a special purpose acquisition company on a reverse merger deal that will enable the company to go public, a source close to the negotiations told Sports Handle Monday evening.
The source, who spoke to Sports Handle on condition of anonymity, did not reveal the name of the SPAC or the terms of the deal. While Sportradar, a Switzerland-based sports betting data provider, may formally announce a partnership in the coming days, an announcement is not expected on Tuesday, the source said.
The deal comes as speculation has intensified over the last week that the data provider had entertained a bevy of offers to go public, either through a SPAC or a traditional IPO. Last month, Sportico reported that Sportradar discussed deals in the range of $10-$12 billion, a considerable step-up from the company’s valuation over the summer at around $8 billion. It is also unclear how much the SPAC has raised in additional Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) commitments in connection with the deal.
A Sportradar spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry from Sports Handle on Monday on if a SPAC deal had been reached.
Timing of a deal
Following a transformative year for SPAC deals in 2020, the market has remained red-hot over the first quarter of the year. As of late February, 166 SPACs had filed for IPOs with another 175 companies in search of a target, according to SPACInsider.com. More than 245 SPACs went public last year, with an average IPO size in excess of $330 million.
At the same time, a number of prominent names in the sports world have led efforts to form SPACs with a sports betting focus, fueling speculation that Sportradar could align with a top owner or star athlete.
Over the last several months, companies led by former New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, former Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane, and former Boston Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein have filed for SPAC deals.
Sports SPAC Arctos NorthStar also priced its IPO, raising $275 million. We had the first look at the SPAC, featuring Theo Epstein https://t.co/iVwPedqJUg via @sportico
#SportsBiz | #SPACs | $ANACU
— Brendan Coffey (@bpcoffey) February 23, 2021
Then, on Feb. 22, Acies Acquisition II, a group led by former MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren, filed for a $250 million SPAC. The group also includes Curtis Polk, a financial advisor for Michael Jordan. In 2015, Jordan, the former Chicago Bulls star, took part in a $44 million investment round in Sportradar, along with Mark Cuban and Monumental Sports Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis.
Other names that have emerged as possibilities to merge with Sportradar include SPACs formed by Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley and others formed by Chamath Palihapitiya, a minority owner of the Golden State Warriors.
Sportradar is not necessarily looking at a SPAC with the most capital, but one that can provide a value-add in helping the company deepen its relationship with professional sports leagues and sportsbook operators, sources say. Sportradar is also interested in broadening its relationship with media entities, another priority of the company.
Sportradar looking for very public debut
While Sportradar had partnerships with all four major North American professional sports leagues during the 2020 sports calendar, its deal with the NFL that gave the company exclusive rights to distribute official league data to U.S. sportsbooks is set to expire, The Athletic reported. Sportradar’s move into public markets could factor into negotiations with the NFL on a new gambling-data partnership.
Go behind the scenes of our latest virtual Nasdaq Opening Bell: how @DraftKings tapped the public markets https://t.co/41aTjtZFZ0 #SPAC pic.twitter.com/uyGlRHHVfD
— Nasdaq (@Nasdaq) April 27, 2020
Sportradar is also thinking deeply of the listing as a public event, similar to DraftKings’ public debut last spring, according to a source. During the height of the pandemic, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins took part in a virtual bell-ringing ceremony last April to toast the company’s first day of trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.
“They are hoping not for a fundamentals valuation, they are hoping for a DraftKings kind of valuation … one that impacts what kind of valuation tier investors place with it,” the source said.
Sportradar’s decision to go public through a SPAC route represents a change in strategy from prior years when CEO Carsten Koerl preferred the traditional IPO path, another source said.
This is a developing story, more updates to come.
Mr B
4年前
Not a lot but this is a good article
Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp VI (NYSE:IPOF) is the next SPAC (special purpose acquisition company ) vehicle that Chamath Palihapitiya has put in-line to merge with a large private technology company. If you believe in his stock value creation track record, IPOF stock is likely to do well.
That is why it now trades for over $15 per share, even though its IPO was at $1o. If the company does not find a target in time, it will have to return its $566 million in cash, according to its latest 10-Q, to shareholders at $1o. Management has until Oct. 14, 2022, according to page 6 of its 10-Q, to find and complete a merger.
For all practical purposes, this means that the deal has to be announced no later than 6 months before then, or April 2022. So, IPOF stock has at least a year and three months left before you might see any major news.
Or not. Never mind, investors say, he is more than likely to find a good target and we want to get a jump on the price when it announces the target. That is why the price is at a premium.
Track Record Counts with SPACs
Finding a quality private company where the owners are willing to take shares in a SPAC is highly dependent on the SPAC’s sponsor reputation. Chamath Palihapitiya has a stellar reputation in Silicon Valley. Palihapitiya has apparently reserved all the symbols from IPOA to IPOZ on the NYSE for potential SPAC issues. He has an excellent track record.
For example, he was an early investor in Slack (NYSE:WORK) which now has a $25 billion market capitalization. His first SPAC (IPOA) took Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) public, and it now is at an all-time high with a $14 billion market valuation. His next SPAC (IPOB) took Opendoor Technologies (NASDAQ:OPEN) public at the end of 2020, now with a $19 billion market cap.
However, one stumble was Clover Health (NASDAQ:CLOV), previously IPOC, which went public in early January. Since then the stock has fallen 22% or so. However, although Social Capital Hedosophia IV (NYSE:IPOD) stock has no target it is trading above $16.
But Social Capital Hedosophia V (NYSE:IPOE) recently announced that it will merge with Millennial finance company Sofi Finance. IPOE stock is now at $23.
What to Do With IPOF Stock
Therefore, to be blunt, this is what investors in IPOF stock expect what will happen. When the target is announced, unless it is a real dud like Clover Health, they expect to see IPOF to move at least 40% to 50% higher in value.
For example, if IPOF stock moves to $23, that implies a potential gain of over 50% over today’s price of $15.06 per share. Of course, a lot of the upside will depend on the target.
Recent reports emerged of a rumor that Stripe, a major fintech transactions company based in Silicon Valley, was a target for IPOF. If that report comes to pass, you can expect that IPOF stock will move higher. According to Crunchbase, Stripe is large enough now that it makes acquisitions of other smaller fintech companies. For example, Wikipedia reports that the latest valuation was $36 billion as of April 2020.
It’s a Gamble
If Palihapitiya is able to pull off a merger with Stripe at a higher valuation than $36 billion, IPOF stock will soar. I suspect it would easily double. The question is why would Stripe merge with this Palihapitiya SPAC when they could easily just go and do an IPO?
If they like working with Palihapitiya, then I can see this happening. This is especially so since a SPAC deal will clarify ahead of time how much capital the company will receive. I suspect that along with the $566 million in the IPOF SPAC coffers, there would be another $500 million in PIPE investment money (private investment in public equities). That is what might attract Stripe to this deal.
Please note, there is no guarantee that this is even IPOF stock’s target. It’s all speculation now. However, I believe, that given the excellent Palihapitiya track record, and the potential Stripe merger rumors, it is worth gambling a little on IPOF stock.
On the date of publication, Mark R. Hake does not hold a long or short position in any of the stocks in this article.
Mark Hake writes about personal finance on mrhake.medium.com and runs the Total Yield Value Guide which you can review here.
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