Bucks Owner Dinan Launches SPAC, Eyes Team Acquisition

Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Jamie Dinan could acquire another team through a freshly launched SPAC.

Iconic Sports Acquisition filed on Wednesday for a $250 million IPO “to identify, acquire, and accelerate a business in the global sports industry or an adjacent sector including data and analytics, media, and technology,” according to the company prospectus. 

The founders added they “intend to focus our search on iconic businesses, including sports franchises.”

Sports SPACs have cooled off from earlier this year, with several high-profile deals falling through.

• In August, Sportradar opted to go public through an IPO after a potential merger with Los Angeles Dodgers owner Todd Boehly’s SPAC collapsed.
• That same month, Topps stayed private after a SPAC merger was called off following the company losing its MLB trading card deal to Fanatics.
• Fanatics was also a factor in Panini and Alex Rodriguez’s SLAM Corp. ending talks, after Fanatics signed trading card licensing deals with the NFL and NBA.

Iconic’s founding team also includes Alexander Knaster, owner of Italian Serie B club A.C. Pisa 1909, and Edward Eisler, who launched a $1 billion hedge fund, Eisler Capital, in July.

The management group will be led by soccer legend Gianluca Vialli and Fausto Zanetton, founder and CEO of sports investment advisory firm Tifosi Capital.