
PlayUp To Go Public Via $350M SPAC Deal with IG Acquistion
Despite a challenging environment for SPAC deals, Australian-based sports betting platform developer PlayUp, Ltd. is looking to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with IG Acquisition Corp (IGAC).
The transaction values the company at $350 million. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023. PlayUp will list on the NASDAQ via a newly formed Irish company called Parent. A fund managed by Yorkville Advisors Global has agreed to invest an additional $70 million in the business.
Daniel Simic, CEO of PlayUp, will stay on as Global CEO of the combined company. Industry veterans Bradley Tusk, Chairman of IGAC, and Christian Goode, CEO of IGAC, will join the new combined company.
Many sports-betting operators have seen sharp declines in their share prices over the past year. DraftKings Inc., which went public in a $3.3 billion SPAC deal in 2020, has fallen 39% this year, while PENN Entertainment, formerly Penn National Gaming, has fallen more than 67% during the same period.
PlayUp has recently entered the US market with operations in Colorado, New Jersey, Indiana and Iowa and has a pending application in Ohio.
