Better Collective buys The Action Network for $240 million

[The Buzz]

Better Collective announced Monday that it has acquired The Action Network for $240 million. According to reports, the fee will be paid in cash and stock, with Better Collective issuing $12 million in new stock to Action management and key employees. The deal is expected to close in Q2 2021.

From the press release:

Founded in 2017 and launched in 2018, Action is uniquely positioned in the U.S. market as the premium sports content and product destination for US sports bettors. A trusted source for sports fans, Action’s media platforms provide an enhanced experience for its users through original sports news content, premium insights, deep menus of odds and proprietary betting tools and data. Action's diverse revenue model includes a rapidly-growing affiliate marketing business focused on customer acquisition for betting operators in the US as well as subscription products, anchored by Action Pro, Action Labs and Fantasy Labs.

According to Legal Sports Report, Action makes 70% of its money from affiliate fees, with the remainder from subscriptions. It also owns its app technology, which includes a popular bet-tracking tool.

For Better Collective, the acquisition expands its US-facing affiliate network.

BC said its US revenues were on track to surpass $100 million by 2022 following the deal.

BC chief executive Jesper Søgaard said the company was well-positioned to profit from the ongoing expansion of US sports betting.

“We add three new, very well positioned US sports media brands to our portfolio and welcome around 100 new colleagues, together representing an invaluable pool of knowledge and expertise on the US sports betting media market,” Søgaard said.
“By all accounts, this is a great day for Better Collective.”

The $240 million tag is a little more than double what DraftKings paid for VSiN last month.

The price and the bidding war show there is still plenty of appetite among operators and affiliates for media M&A. DraftKings, for one, is likely still on the lookout for another media acquisition.

Last week, DraftKings purchased rights to a podcast by former ESPN host Dan Le Batard for $50 million. Also in April, Bally’s announced a $2.7 billion merger with online-gaming company Gamesys Group PLC.

Read more here: https://www.legalsportsreport.com/51...k-acquisition/

[MJM]

Truly amazing, and immediately followed up the next day by Catena purchasing LineUps for 40million.

From start up in 2017 to 240 million dollar sale without being profitable. US market is bananas.

[econfox]

Fox just bought Outkick which is a sports & pop culture website.
More and more are getting snapped up in the US

[ocreditor]

Wow BC becomes giant

[spartikkhlink]

where people get so much money is hard to imagine...

[Cash Bonus]

A substantial business move and good to see this for them.

[mediapartner]

the funny thing is that it doesnt cost them anything...240 million sounds like a lot, but when announcing the takeover their stock rises making the value of the company higher by big numbers...so basically its free money for them..

[econfox]

the funny thing is that it doesnt cost them anything...240 million sounds like a lot, but when announcing the takeover their stock rises making the value of the company higher by big numbers...so basically its free money for them..

Exactly, that is what is funding a lot of takeovers. The stock market in the US is out of control with free money from the Fed. Those companies are using it to buy startups.
And of course. The employees are cashing in on stock options non stop.
Good times if you are a CEO of a listed stock.