One championship mixed martial arts company seeks SPAC connection
One Championship , a media company that deals with mixed martial arts (MMA) z Singapore , is actively seeking to go public in the U.S. through a merger with special purpose (SPAC) , Bloomberg reports.
Preparation for public announcement
According to unnamed sources familiar with the matter, One Championship has already contacted Credit Suisse Group AG i Goldman Sachs Group Inc, to inquire about their services in preparation for a potential listing.
In addition, the Asian sports media company has held preliminary talks with several unnamed SPACs about a potential merger, media reported, noting that the names of potential merger partners were omitted due to the private nature of the deliberations.
One Championship operates primarily through hosting events in Asia and was forced to scrap plans for a U.S. debut due to the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent related events.
Sports media company has partnered with US broadcaster Turner Sports , the big boys' partner in America daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting site DraftKings iFanDuel , to create and introduce a new digital sports event series to American audiences, starting with April 2021 .
With the support of Singapore State Capital
According to the official information on their website, One Championship hosts martial arts and combat sports events including kickboxing, muay thai, taekwondo and karate and broadcasts them to over 150 countries worldwide.
The company is backed financially by investor names such as Sequoia Capital and Singapore state firms GIC and Temasek Holdings.
Rival Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) might as well decide to go public by way of initial public offering (IPO) or private financing, seeking a valuation of at least $1 billion as the people running the company have repeatedly stated in the past.
One Championship Company , which has been repeatedly questioned about the sustainability of its business model by analysts and MMA industry commentators, has reported 2019. $99 million losses, which is a sharp increase of 60% w compared to the previous year's result.
SPAC are companies listed on the stock exchange, which are listed on a blank cheque, set up to acquire other companies and should an Asian media company decide to take the deal public SPAC type , would probably become the most famous sports property.
According to the report, discussions are at a preliminary stage and it is not clear what path the sports media will take to go public.
