SIG Sports is set to purchase 38.75 million shares in PointsBet, which represent a 12.8% stake in the Australian sportsbook operator, under the provisions of a newly-announced agreement between the two companies. The price of the deal is AU$94.2 million.
The agreement has been inked only a week after PointsBet rejected a takeover bid of News Corp Australia.
As part of the stake acquisition, SIG Sports is now set to become the largest shareholder of PointsBet. Reportedly, the shares are set to be quoted either on June 23rd or around that date. They will be issued under the already existing placement capacity of PointsBet.
The chairman of the Australian sportsbook operator, Brett Paton, confirmed the deal and shared that the company was extremely happy to team up with SIG Sports, describing its new shareholder as “a visionary investor” with extensive qualifications in the financial market trading. As explained by Mr Paton, the two companies share a range of common perceptions and goals, and through the share purchase, SIG Sports will help Pointsbet in its efforts for further expansion in North America, where the Australian sports betting company is willing to become a leader in the provision of in-play sports betting services.
The deal was also confirmed by Jeff Yass, the co-founder and managing director of SIG Sports, who explained that his company spent a few years evaluating the sports betting market of North America and, eventually, concluded that Pointsbet is the most suitable investor in the longer term. Mr Yass shared that the company has been closely monitoring the performance of PointsBet until it developed a very positive view of the Australian sportsbook company’s operations, seeing PointsBet’s great potential for further growth that could be assisted by SIG Sports’ footprint in the North American market.
The AU$94.2-Million Deal Makes SIG Sports the Biggest Shareholder of PointsBet
As an extension of the deal between SIG Sports and PointsBet, the Australian sports betting company also joined efforts with an affiliate of its US partner, Nellie Analytics. The latter is set to provide sports and analytical services to Pointsbet in order to ensure better monitoring of its performance in the new market.
According to the provisions of the initial agreement, these services will come free of charge over an exploratory period of 9 months. After that, both parties confirmed they plan to enter a long-term partnership agreement, as part of which PointsBet will be provided with the services of Nellie Analytics for PBH shares or cash equivalent.
When it comes to any additional consequences of the stock purchase in PointsBet, there will be no changes in the Australian sports betting operator’s board. This has been the best PointsBet hoped for, considering the fact that there have recently been a number of leadership-level and marketing leadership changes in the company.
The aforementioned appointments, the last of which happened at the beginning of the month, were described as strategic changes to the global leadership teams in PointsBet. They were initiated as part of the company’s efforts to boost its market share on a global scale, including in Ontario’s newly-launched online gambling sector.
- Author
Olivia Cole
