SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Genius Sports has confirmed it intends to pursue a New York Stock Exchange listing with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) dMY Technology.
It follows breaking news by US business news sources that dMY had secured a guaranteed +$300 million of financing to lead Genius’ US-focused IPO.
This morning, Genius affirmed that it had entered a ‘definitive business combination agreement’ with dMY, the SPAC vehicle formed by US technology executives Harry You and Niccolo De Masi.
Updating the market, Genius provided a breakdown of its IPO ambitions, in which the sports tech and data group seeks a pro-forma enterprise valuation of $1.5 billion – set at ‘8x of Genius projected 2021 revenue of $190 million’.
Genius confirmed that dMY had secured a guaranteed $330 million in funding from professional tech investors who will back Genius’ NYSE listing.
A successful IPO will see Genius obtain $150 million in ‘unrestricted growth capital’, with the firm operating under a debt-free balance sheet to accelerate its US market ambition to become the lead data and media rights distributor for all sports stakeholders.
Genius underscored that Mark Locke would remain as Company CEO, supported by a ‘deep bench of talent’ with experience across finance, technology and the sports betting industry.
Supporting the transaction, Locke issued the following statement: “Genius Sports Group created the market for official data across all tiers of sports, helping fuel our sportsbook partners’ ever-increasing range of products . This transaction will help us continue to expand and strengthen our position as a nexus of the global sports, betting and media ecosystem.”
dMY underlined that it would seek to close its merger by Q1 2021, with Genius board of directors approving of its SPAC transaction. You and De Masi have been guaranteed seats at Genius once the company fulfils its NYSE listing.
De Masi signed-off on Genius’ statement: “Elemental data provider Genius Sports Group benefits from the growth of all participants in the global sports betting market. Mark Locke has pioneered the provision of official rights and live data which have been instrumental in building the modern sports betting market.
“Genius has a strong track record of growth and we are very excited by the opportunities for further expansion in this rapidly growing segment.”
