DraftKings Invests In Vivid Seats SPAC

DraftKings is buying into Horizon Acquisition Corp., a SPAC on the verge of taking Vivid Seats public.

The sports betting giant is taking on part of the commitment made by Eldridge Investments, a firm founded by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Todd Boehly. Eldridge is also an investor in DraftKings.

• The SPAC merger, agreed to in April, values the combined company at around $1.95 billion.
• The transaction will provide $769 million in cash and stock to Vivid Seats, $225 million of which will come from a private investment in public equity (PIPE). DraftKings is participating in the PIPE.
• DraftKings is purchasing stock in the SPAC at $10 per share. It has the option to sell shares back to Eldridge at $9.77 per share a year after the merger is completed.

DraftKings has piled up around $1.7 billion in acquisitions this year, primarily from its $1.6 billion purchase of Golden Nugget Online Gaming in August. 

It also acquired sports betting broadcast network VSiN in March, iGaming company BlueRibbon in April, and legal-tech company LinkSquares in July.

Sports betting operator Entain is mulling a $22.4 billion acquisition offer from DraftKings.