RedBall Acquisition Corp, the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) fronted by Fenway Sports Group investor Gerry Cardinale and baseball analytics guru Billy Beane, looks set to land a star-studded investment deal.
Although it was never publicly disclosed from either side, RedBall had been in talks with Liverpool owners FSG last year over the possibility of taking a stake of up to 25 per cent in the business, which also includes the Boston Red Sox baseball team and Roush Fenway Racing NASCAR team.
It was a deal that had the potential to take FSG as a business public and onto the stock market.
RedBall raised $575m in its initial public offering (IPO) last summer and sought to raise another $950m through Redbird Capital Partners and other private outside investment in its second run to try and raise as much almost $1bn.
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Talks went on for a number of months before they finally broke off in late January, the stumbling block over the $7bn valuation of the overall FSG operation among some investors and a growing reluctance from FSG to take the business public.
Two months later, after Cardinale remained at the table to discuss investment, a $750m deal was struck with Cardinale's private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners for 11 per cent of the FSG business.
The clock had been ticking on the deal with RedBall having 24 months at the formation of the SPAC to secure an investment deal.
And now it appears they have acquired a major target, with US sports business website Sportico reporting that a deal has been struck to take the ticketing platform SeatGeek public.
SeatGeek has official partnerships with the likes of Manchester City and the Dallas Cowboys. No official valuation of the deal has been given but Sportico highlight that SeatGeek's main competitors, Vivid Seats, are going public with a SPAC and the value of that business being placed at $1.95bn.
New York-based SeatGeek, which launched in 2009 as a mobile-focused ticketing platform, has a number of high profile investors including NFL greats, brothers Peyton and Eli Manning, NBA star Carmelo Anthony and legendary New York rapper Nas.
After the FSG deal broke off there was some suggestion that RedBall may seek to find another European football target, but also had eSports and online growth businesses linked to sport on their radar.
RedBall were the first sports-specific SPAC to be formed in a decade when it was created last year, their arrival at the beginning of what was a wave of SPACs being created as investors saw opportunity in the crisis created by the pandemic.
The decision to conclude investment into FSG via RedBird Capital Partners was the second foray into having links with European football for Cardinale, who owns French second tier side Toulouse via his RedBird FC business. He also has a small shareholding in Spanish second division side, and former Champions League quarter-finalists Malaga, a deal done through RedBird Capital Partners that could yet manifest into a full takeover in the future.
