PlayUp, an online gaming company will list its stock on the NASDAQ via IG Acquisition Corp. (SPAC), a special-purpose acquisition corporation. The deal is worth $350m.
PlayUp announced that it had entered into an agreement for a business merger with a special-purpose company. The transaction is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2023.
SPAC stated its vision of PlayUp in a press release: the operator would offer a wide range of gambling products, including sports betting, daily fantasy, slot machines, table games and casino games. It will not focus on narrower verticals. The SPAC cited the 56% increase in revenue year on year from 2021-22 to demonstrate the basic competency of the business.
In a press release that accompanied the announcement, IGAC’s CEO Christian Goode explained this strategy.
He said that there was no single platform where consumers could access all types of gambling products.
“In general, competitors in the industry have focused on a particular product. IGAC, PlayUp and other industry competitors share the same vision – to offer the online betting market the best possible suite of innovative and traditional betting products.
The transaction will provide PlayUp access to new capital in order to expand its vision for a single online destination that is the future of betting.
IGAC said it had spent two years searching for targets to acquire before settling with PlayUp. It also stated that IGAC’s experience in regulatory matters combined with PlayUp’s technology platform would make a compelling partnership.
PlayUp’s CEO Daniel Simic explained the plans of the company with increased capital access: “PlayUp is confident that this transaction will allow us to invest in our proprietary technologies and achieve our ambitions to become the leading entertainment and gambling platform for the future.
He said: “We imagine a future where players will be able to enhance their betting experience by betting on products they love and also interact with new immersive betting products that incorporate the latest technologies, such as AR or VR.”
Bradley Tusk, IGAC Chairman and former Illinois deputy governor, said: “We’re excited about the transaction, because PlayUp comes the closest to achieving the vision we share for the future online betting – a platform which offers customers any digital betting type they desire, through one app, and a single digital wallet anywhere it is legal.
PlayUp announced in July that they had undertaken a review of their strategy to look at “alternatives”, including the sale of their business.
In 2020, the operator’s planned acquisition by cryptocurrency exchange FTX fell through. The leadership blamed the former US CEO Laila MINTAS, claiming that she contacted FTX’s CEO Sam Bankman Fried and informed him of PlayUp being “not clean”, and having “systemic problems”, after a disagreement with her employer.
PlayUp filed a restraining against Mintas at a Nevada court. The order was overturned by the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court judgement that PlayUp did not prove “the likelihood of winning on the merits”.
