Better Collective officially completes Playmaker Capital acquisition
Danish affiliate seals second-largest acquisition to date as Americas-facing media brand added to stable
Better Collective has officially completed the cash-plus-stock deal to acquire Toronto-listed media group Playmaker Capital.
The deal, which is the second-largest acquisition in Better Collective’s M&A history, will see the Danish firm take ownership of the Americas-facing company.
Playmaker Capital will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Better Collective with the transaction now complete, having first been announced in November in a €176m deal and given the green light by Playmaker shareholders last month.
Playmaker Capital’s shares are expected to be delisted in Toronto in due course.
Alongside announcing the completion of the deal, Better Collective has upgraded its 2027 financial targets and issued new shares in the business.
Almost 1.8m shares have been issued equal to a price of €26 per share to help fund the transaction, with a total of 3,143,009 Better Collective shares issued to Playmaker Capital shareholders.
Elsewhere, Better Collective also confirmed it had upgraded its EBITDA margin guidance for 2027, while retaining its existing revenue CAGR and net debt to EBITDA ratio.
EBITDA margin before special items is now expanded to land between 35% and 40%, from a previous guidance of 30% to 40%.
Revenue CAGR remains unchanged at 20+% and net debt to EBITDA is expected to be below 3x.
Better Collective added that the acquisition has increased its confidence in reaching the revenue CAGR target.
Jesper Søgaard, Better Collective CEO, said: “I am truly excited for the completion of the acquisition of Playmaker Capital, which marks a significant step towards our vision of becoming the leading digital sports media group.
“Over the last few months, we have had great discussions with the management team of Playmaker and these have reinforced my confidence in the combined future of our organisations.
“I look forward to welcoming the entire Playmaker team and its leading sports media brands to the Better Collective group, and to realise the many synergies that lie ahead for our business,” he added.
Jordan Gnat, Playmaker Capital CEO, said: “Today the Playmaker family begins the next phase of our journey by joining the Better Collective family. As the teams have gotten to know each other over the past few months, I have been inspired by the cultural fit and the excitement for this opportunity going forward by both teams.”