Penn National Gaming has gained Investment Canada Act Approval from the Minister of Canadian Heritage for its acquisition of theScore.
Subject to approval by theScore’s shareholders at a special meeting, the receipt of a final order from the Supreme Court of British Columbia, and satisfaction or waiver of the other conditions to closing contained in the arrangement agreement with Penn National, the arrangement is expected to close on October 19, 2021.
The special meeting is scheduled for October 12, which will be conducted via live audio webcast online. During this, shareholders will be able to hear the meeting live, and registered shareholders and appointed proxy holders will be able to submit questions on procedural matters and cast a vote.
In August of this year, Penn National Gaming entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Score Media and Gaming for approximately $2bn in cash and stock.
As part of the acquisition agreement, Score shareholders will receive $17 in cash and 0.2398 shares of PNG common stock for each share, a total purchase consideration of $34 per each based on a five-day volume weighted average trading price as of July 30, 2021.
At the time of the definitive agreement, Jay Snowden, president and CEO of Penn National, noted: “We are thrilled to be acquiring theScore, which is the number one sports app in Canada and the third most popular sports app in all of North America.
“theScore’s unique media platform and modern, state-of-the art technology is a powerful complement to the reach of Barstool Sports and its popular personalities and content.
“We are now uniquely positioned to seamlessly serve our customers with the most powerful ecosystem of sports, gaming and media in North America, ultimately creating a community that doesn’t currently exist.
“Users will enjoy a unique mobile sports betting and icasino platform with highly customised bets and enhanced in-gaming wagering opportunities, along with highly engaging, personalised sports and entertainment content, and real time scores and stats.”
The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is currently expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.
Upon completion, current PNG and Score shareholders will hold approximately 93 per cent and seven per cent, respectively, of the company’s outstanding shares.
It was also confirmed that theScore will continue to be operated as a stand-alone business and led by the Levy family “with the same operating philosophy that has driven the company’s success to date”.
