PlayUp scraps plans for $500m Nasdaq listing

PlayUp will no longer move forward with its proposed $500 million listing agreement on the tech-inclined US stock index Nasdaq.

The fantasy sports and online betting company’s Nasdaq setback was unveiled earlier this year after IG Acquisition Corp (IGAC) revealed that it would terminate the agreement, which was announced in September. The firm is a special-purpose acquisition company that intended to acquire PlayUp before its public listing.

IGAC released a statement to the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), revealing that one of the deal’s requirements was that PlayUp submit its audited financial statements by October 31, 2022. This would enable the listing to carry on as expected early this year.

However, according to IGAC, despite “repeated requests for the company financial statements, the company (PlayUp) has failed to deliver the Company Financial Statements and has provided no indication of when the company financial statements will be delivered or if they will be delivered at all”.

On their end, PlayUp’s chief executive, Daniel Simic, claimed the bookmaker declined to hand over its financial information because it was apparent that the deal would not go ahead. Before the company announced the agreement, a chunk of IGAC’s US$350 million cash stockpile was retrieved by investors.

“We didn’t think it was in anyone’s best interest to complete, nor to provide any further information at that point in time. So both sides disbanded the deal,” Simic said.

The CEO further revealed that PlayUp was having discussions concerning a potential deal with other SPACS (special-purpose acquisition companies) in a bid to crack into the booming US gambling market.

Simic continued, “We want to be in the US market for integrity purposes, and to trade where we will get the most value for our shareholders.”

This is not the first time PlayUp’s deal has fallen through. Earlier, Simic was in discussions to sell PlayUp to Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire FTX. The deal was, however, cancelled in November 2022 after FTX went under.

After the implosion of the crypto group, Simic tweeted, “This last week has been a massive eye-opener for me with the collapse of FTX.”

When IGAC announced PlayUp’s Nasdaq listing in September 2022, it suggested that great things were in store for the company in the future. The announcement also included reports of the growth of the overall betting sector in the past few years as a result of the US’s updated legislation, as well as consumers expanding their use of online betting.

“IGAC believes PlayUp is uniquely positioned to build the first fully integrated technology platform where consumers can engage in broad forms of betting — daily fantasy, sports betting, slots, table games, casino games, Esports, lottery, sweepstakes and more — from one platform, one account, one digital wallet, anywhere in the world where it’s legal,” IGAC said at the time.

PlayUp’s operations in Australia are making noticeable improvements having generated positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the first time.

PlayUp was in liquidation when Simic acquired it in 2016. The company had reportedly exhausted the $100 million funding provided by prominent investors such as former Primer Minister Malcolm Turnbull, former Telstra chairman Bob Mansfield, pokies billionaire Bruce Mathieson, and former star cricketers Adam Gilchrist and Steve Waugh, while ex-NSW Premier Nick Greiner served as the company’s chairman.

More gambling news