Score Media & Gaming, a Canadian sportsbook operator and sports media company, is launching an initial US public offering (IPO). The move sets the stage for the firm to move its equity to the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
The news comes just over a week after the firm announced plans for a reverse split. The corporate action reduced the outstanding shares while raising the share price, positioning the gaming operator better to procure a listing on a major US exchange.
Score Media said it plans to sell five million shares of the US IPO in a statement released after the close of US markets on Monday. Underwriters Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Canaccord Genuity, and Macquarie Capital will have a 30-day window in which they can buy an additional 15 percent, so the deal could include as many as 5.75 million shares.
”The Company currently expects that the net proceeds of the offering will be used to fund working capital and other general corporate purposes, including the continued growth and expansion of theScore Bet’s operations in the United States and Canada by supporting the multi-jurisdiction deployment and operation of theScore Bet and user acquisition and retention in jurisdictions where theScore is, or will be, operating,” according to the statement.
The company’s ScoreBet mobile app is currently live in Colorado, Indiana, and New Jersey.
News of the IPO and Nasdaq graduation caps a busy, positive period for Score Media. Last week, Canada’s parliament approved single-game sports betting.
theScore was widely highlighted as one of the largest beneficiaries of the modernization of sports wagering in its home country prior to the passage of that legislation. In Canada, the operator enjoys superior brand recognition and a strong market share.
With regard to the US listing, Score Media is a win because it puts the stock in front of a larger institutional audience at a time when there is a fevered pitch for enthusiasm for iGaming and sports wagering equities. In addition, listing on a major US exchange improves access to capital for a company.
The Toronto-based company did not say exactly how much will be raised via the US IPO. Rather, it noted the “offer will be priced in the market sense, with terms to be decided at the time of entering into a subscription agreement with the underwriters, including price per share.
U.S. over-the-counter-traded shares closed today at $30.59. theScore will raise $172.5 million, assuming an offering price of $30 and a sale of the full allotment of 5.75 million shares. But the company hasn’t verified that figure.
It will trade under the ticker “SCR” when the stock lists on Nasdaq, the same identifier the company uses for its listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Following the US IPO, the TSX listing will be maintained.
The news is also a boon for Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN), as 4.7 percent of Score Media is owned by the regional gaming behemoth and upstart sports betting player. Penn has an appreciative asset sitting on its books, assuming investors have an appetite for theScore shares, and one it can easily divest if it needs capital.
