Sportradar files for $100m IPO as SPAC interest dissolves
Global data provider to fund “incremental growth” and investment in complementary businesses
Sportradar has filed an F-1 application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to go public via an IPO of shares worth an estimated $100m (£72.6m).
The volume of class A shares on offer and the price of the shares have not been disclosed by the data provider, however the firm will trade under the SRAD designation on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
Sportradar has said it intends to use the proceeds from the IPO for working capital and to fund incremental growth and future acquisitions in “complementary” businesses, products and technology.
Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl insisted “numerous opportunities” for growing the business existed as the development of the US sports betting market accelerates in tandem with the need for new products and innovation.
“We are living in a transformational time,” Koerl explained.
“At Sportradar we are focused on constantly improving our company and its services. Machine learning and artificial intelligence, in particular, will help us to get brand new insights around team and player performance.
“Cloud computing gives us the GPU power, combined with low latency connections, to all our clients around the world, to serve the next generation of analytical and entertainment products,” the CEO added.
The IPO filing comes just two months after Sportradar scrapped a proposed merger with US-based SPAC Horizon Acquisition Corp. II.
Sportradar had initially signed a letter of intent to pursue the SPAC in March, a deal which valued the firm at $10bn.
Despite both parties extending the window for talks with investors, it was widely reported that the firm had struggled to recruit potential investment partners for the deal.
Sportradar counts NBA basketball legend Michael Jordan and American billionaire entrepreneur Marc Cuban among its investors.
According to data provided in its filing, Sportradar had 1,612 business customers in 2020, with partner firms including bet365, Caesars, DraftKings, Entain, FanDuel, Flutter and William Hill.
The firm also operates non-exclusive data rights agreements with the NBA, MLB in the US and the exclusive data rights to the NBA, MLB, and NHL globally along with more than 500 sports leagues and competitions.
Sportradar reported a 42% year-on-year revenue increase during H1 2021 with revenue hitting €272.1m, generating profits of €17.7m and an adjusted EBITDA of €59.8m.
Rival data provider Genius Sports went public in a $1.5bn SPAC merger with US-based investment firm dMY Technology Group II in April.