PlayUp's $350m public listing ditched as SPAC partner looks elsewhere
Investor ends two-year-long process as required documentation not filed by Australia-based operator
A reverse merger between PlayUp and blank-check company IG Acquisition Corp (IGAC) has been terminated, according to latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In a form 8-K filing with the US-based securities body, IGAC confirmed the termination of the deal which valued the business at $350m.
IGAC first entered into an agreement with PlayUp in September 2022, with both companies investing in a third, newly formed parent company, Maple Grove Holdings Public Limited Company.
In tandem with the SPAC arrangement, the newly formed parent company entered into a $70m standby equity purchase agreement, with a fund managed by New Jersey-based investment firm Yorkville Advisors Global LP.
This $70m was to have been used in expanding earmarked for the expansion of the PlayUp footprint, both in the US and internationally.
Formed in 2020, IGAC raised more than $300m in its IPO and is run by Bradley Tusk, a venture capitalist and former New York mayoral campaign manager.
Tusk, who was involved with the campaign of three-term mayor Michael Bloomberg, has also worked with US market leader FanDuel. The SPAC deal, if consummated, would have seen both Tusk and IGAC’s CEO Christian Goode join the newly merged business.
However, on December 8, IGAC filed an 8-K form amending its agreement with PlayUp, indicating that necessary financial statement documentation and other relevant materials had not been provided by the Australia-based firm.
IGAC also cited prevailing market conditions that had made it “difficult” to find the necessary financing required to complete the transaction.
IGAC’s agreement with PlayUp was on an exclusive basis, a stipulation which ended with the filing of the December 8 form, allowing the investor to pursue deals elsewhere.
“The board of directors of IGAC has determined that IGAC will not be able to complete the transactions contemplated by the BCA or any other initial business combination within the time period required by its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation,” IGAC’s 8-K filing stated.
The IGAC SPAC is set to fully dissolve by close of business on January 11 following the failure to find an alternative investment partner, with all investors compensated for their shares.
The collapse of the deal is another setback for PlayUp, coming off its failure to complete the sale of its PlayUp USA business to now-collapsed cryptocurrency exchange operator FTX for $450m in 2021.
That failed deal is currently the subject of a lawsuit in Nevada between PlayUp and its former PlayUp USA CEO Dr Laila Mintas over alleged sharing of confidential information which led to the collapse of the sale.