The Stars Group has closed a public offer of new shares saying it had raised about $622 million for its acquisition of Sky Betting & Gaming.
“A total of 17,000,000 common shares were sold by the company and 8,000,000 common shares were sold by certain shareholders of the company (the “Selling Shareholders”). The net proceeds to the company, after underwriting discounts and commissions, but before estimated expenses of the offering payable by the company, are approximately US$622 million,” the group said in a press release.
The cash will be added to $750 million Stars Group has borrowed in a private offering of unsecured senior notes due in 2026.
The total purchase price for Sky betting is reportedly $4.7 billion, which the company is paying in a mixture of cash and stock. $3.6 billion will be paid to SBG shareholders in cash, with the rest of the value coming in the form of newly issued shares in The Stars Group.
When the deal was announced, Stars group outlined its payment plan.
“Fully committed debt financing of approximately $6.9 billion including $5.1 billion of first lien term loans, $1.4 billion of senior unsecured notes and a $400 million revolving credit facility. The funded proceeds of $6.5 billion will be used for the cash portion of the transaction consideration, refinancing the company’s existing first lien term loan and repaying SBG’s outstanding debt.”
Despite closing the equity funding, deal brokers and selling shareholders have the option to sell an additional 3.75 million shares by July 21.
The offered shares were priced at $38, but were later listed at $34.60 on NASDAQ according to a report at OnlinePokerReport.com.
“The acquisition of Sky Betting & Gaming is a landmark moment in The Stars Group’s history,” said Stars Group CEO Rafi Ashkenazi in a press release. “SBG operates one of the world’s fastest growing sportsbooks and is one of the United Kingdom’s leading gaming providers. SBG’s premier sports betting product is the ideal complement to our industry-leading poker platform. The ability to offer two low-cost acquisition channels of this magnitude provides The Stars Group with great growth potential and will significantly increase our ability to create winning moments for our customers.”
A completion date for the acquisition has not been announced.
