Sportradar will go public in a deal with Horizon Acquisition Corp. II, which values the sports data company at $ 10 billion.
Sportradar and SPAC, led by the minority owner of Los Angeles Dodgers and former president of Guggenheim, Todd Boehly, have a signed letter of intent. The transaction includes the insertion of other investors as part of a private investment in public shares, or PIPE.
If the deal comes out, it will be one of SPAC’s highest assessments – and the largest for a sports-related company. The firm, which is currently traded under the $ HZON symbol, raised $ 525 million last year. His board also includes DraftKings co-founder and CEO Jason Robins.
Sportradar’s founder and CEO, Carsten Koerl, will remain in the position as CEO of the publicly traded company. A representative of the group declined to comment. The Horizon spokesman also chose not to respond to inquiries from the press on the matter.
Since the first rumors about Sportradar’s intention to go public, the business has been much talked about in the world of sports. Valuations range from $ 4 billion last summer to multiple offers of more than $ 10 billion in the past few weeks.
Sportradar does business at a time of high prices in the data market
Founded in 2001, Sportradar’s main business is to collect data from global sporting events and distribute to media companies and sports betting operators.
It covers more than 350,000 sporting events each year in more than 50 sports and has direct partnerships with many of the largest sporting entities in the world, including the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, FIFA and NASCAR. The company’s investors include the NFL and a trio of NBA owners – Mark Cuban, Ted Leonsis and Michael Jordan.
The change comes as the value of the data grows – for leagues, media companies and betting operators. Sportradar was valued at $ 2.4 billion just three years ago. While Genius Sports, another sports data company, is also going public in a $ 1.5 billion deal.
Horizon Acquisition II was formed in September by Boehly, the majority owner of Eldridge Industries, a Connecticut conglomerate with a range of investments in sports, including a limited stake in Dodgers and a venture capital investment in DraftKings.
As Sportradar is located in Switzerland and Horizon II is registered in the Cayman Islands, the deal likely avoids some concerns about U.S. taxation that has been problematic for US-registered SPACs that buy business with headquarters abroad.
