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Table 1 : SPACs looking at betting and gaming , esports and related areas
SPAC |
Targeting |
Principals |
Money |
|
|
|
raised |
Date
Tekkorp Digital media , sports , entertainment , leisure and / or gaming
Marquee Raine Acquisition Corp .
Tailwind Two Acquisition Corp .
IG Acquisition
Interactive entertainment and games , real money gaming , sports
Leisure , gaming and hospitality
Gaming , esports and wagering
Matt Davey , CEO Robin Chhabra , president Eric Matejevich , CFO
Brett Varsov , co-CEO Crane Kenney , co-CEO
Philip Krim , chairman Chris Hollod , co-CEO Matt Eby , co-CEO
Bradley Tusk , chairman Christian Goode , CEO
PTK Acquisition Corp . |
Gaming and esports |
Peter Kuo , CEO |
|
|
Vincent Tsai , managing director |
Ascendent Digital
Source : Market Monitor
Attention economy including esports
Mark Gerhard , CEO Riaan Hodgson , COO
$ 250m |
Sep 20 |
$ 374m |
Dec 20 |
$ 300m |
Mar 21 |
$ 300m |
Sep 20 |
$ 115m |
Sep 20 |
$ 414m |
Mar 21 |
helped bring two gaming SPACs to fruition has been Oakvale Capital , which has had its name attached to the deals that brought RSI , Genius Sports and as this report was going to press Super Group , the parent company behind Betway , which announced it was going to market via a deal with the Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corp SPAC .
Sandford Loudon , partner at the financial advisory house , says that after DraftKings blazed the SPAC trail it “ precipitated others seeing that as route to market ”.
“ Definitely , there is positive multiplier ,” he adds . “ I also think the valuation dynamics are very conducive to doing bigger deals . The benchmarks are very strong plus there were no online gaming and betting companies on the Nasdaq – and everyone loves a comparator .”
FUTURE-CASTING
But more than just being opportunistic , there is one specific element of the structure of SPACs that is particularly important and perhaps goes some way to explaining the fit with betting and gaming right now . “ The structure of the SPAC allows you to talk about the growth prospects and what the future would look like ,” says Davey .
“ US investors in growth companies aren ’ t that interested in past trading ,” he says . “ And so the SPAC structure lends itself to gaming and future growth potential . Particularly when states are opening up to gaming up faster than was initially thought .”
This is against a backdrop of huge liquidity in the US right now for growth opportunities . David Shapton , partner and head of the M & A advisory business at Akur Capital in London , makes the point that in the US investors generally “ aren ’ t so scared by potential ” and the “ bubble enthusiasm ” is more in evidence .
Moreover , US investors are also more comfortable with investing in an initial land-grab rather than immediate profits . “ People have done so well out of the likes of Facebook and Uber , where you worry about profits less than about getting a chunky market share ,” he
May 2021