Playmaker Capital shareholders vote in favour of Better Collective acquisition
Affiliate giant Better Collective in November agreed to acquire Playmaker Capital for a total price of €176m (£151m/$192m). The deal had been expected to close in Q1 2024.
Approval from Playmaker Capital’s shareholders pushes the deal closer to the anticipated completion. In total, 99.999% of all votes cast were in favour of the acquisition, with just 0.001% against.
The acquisition remains subject to approval from both the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the minister of Canadian heritage. Other, additional closing conditions must also be met for the deal to complete.
Should all these be satisfied, the acquisition will likely close in early February.
Why is Better Collective acquiring Playmaker Capital?
Speaking in November, Better Collective said the deal will make it the market leader in South America. It added that the business combination would further improve its position within the North American market.
Other factors identified by Better Collective include improved scale and greater levels of product, technology and marketing investments.
Playmaker Capital has its shares listed on both the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada and the OTCQX in the US. It counts Futbolsites.net, Yardbarker and The Nation Network among its sports media brands. Better Collective will purchase all these as part of the acquisition deal.
In financing the purchase, Better Collective will be using shares for 65% and 35% cash. The group says it will revisit its financial targets for 2023 to 2027 upon the close of the purchase.
Playmaker Capital co-founder and CEO Jordan Gnat said that the deal has been a year in the making. Better Collective co-founder and CEO Jesper Søgaard also hailed the acquisition deal, billing it as an “important milestone” in the group’s digital sports media journey.
Better Collective: an expanding portfolio
The Playmaker Capital deal came in the wake of Better Collective also acquiring American sports media company Playmaker HQ.
Better Collective agreed to acquire the business for $54m in July last year. Based in Florida, Playmaker HQ specialises in creating original entertainment and sports content, with athlete collaborations and creator talent aimed at the US market.
At the time, Better Collective believes that the acquisition will help it gain access to “a new and large audience of highly engaged generalist sports fans”.