Canadian digital media and sports betting company theScore has closed its initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq, raising $186.3 million USD in gross proceeds.
The dual Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and Nasdaq-listed company sold 6.9 million Class A Shares at a price of $27 per share in its US IPO, which closed yesterday.
theScore plans to use the proceeds to expand the operations of its new sports betting app across North America.
theScore initially planned to sell five million shares, but increased the size of its planned offering to six million shares last week. The previously announced IPO was led by a group of underwriters that included Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Canaccord Genuity, Macquarie Capital, Eight Capital, Cormark Securities, and Scotiabank. The group exercised an over-allotment option to sell an additional 900,000 shares.
The Toronto-based company, which is known for its mobile sports app, plans to use the proceeds to fund working capital and expand the operations of its new sports betting app across North America.
“theScore is uniquely positioned, both in the US and Canada, as the only truly integrated mobile media and gaming company,” John Levy, the founder and CEO of theScore, previously said following the release of the company’s Q1 2021 financial results.
Given theScore’s development and the growth of the sports betting industry across North America, Levy said the timing was right to list on a US stock exchange.
theScore provides sports news and statistics to users via its mobile app, which has approximately four million monthly users. theScore Bet, the company’s sports betting app, is currently available in four US states: Colorado, New Jersey, Iowa, and Indiana.
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The sports media and betting company plans to use the new funding to support the continued growth and expansion of theScore Bet in the US and Canada, “by supporting the multi-jurisdiction deployment and operation of theScore Bet and user acquisition and retention in jurisdictions where theScore is, or will be, operating.”
“While still in the early stages of this fast-growing industry, we are steadily strengthening our expanding footprint in the North American sports betting market,” said Levy.
“We’re also diligently preparing for the enormous opportunity in Canada ahead of the anticipated creation of a fully-legalized and regulated sports betting and iGaming market in Ontario,” he added.
The fresh funding marks theScore’s second round of funding in recent months. In December, theScore raised approximately $46 million through a bought deal equity offering via a short-form prospectus.
It isn’t the only Canadian sports betting platform looking to grow: Toronto-based esports betting platform Rivalry recently raised a $20 million USD Series A, as it plans to pursue a Canadian IPO later this year.
theScore has also positioned itself to capitalize on the potential legalization of single event sports betting in Canada, which is currently illegal. The Government of Canada is currently considering changing this through Bill C-218, The Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act.
Image courtesy of theScore
