Penn National Gaming to acquire theScore from Score Media for about $2.0 billion in cash and stock, Score shares jump 65% premarket
Penn National Gaming Inc. said Thursday it has agreed to acquire theScore, a digital media and sports betting company, from Toronto-based Score Media and Gaming Inc. for about $2.0 billion in cash and stock. Under the terms of the deal, theScore shareholders will receive $17 in cash and 0.2398 Penn shares for each theScore share owned, equal to $23 a share based on Penn National's 5-day volume weighted average trading price as of July 30. The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. Penn is planning to finance the cash portion of the deal of about $1 billion with existing cash. Penn Chief Executive Jay Snowden said theScore is the leading sports app in Canada and third most popular 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," he said in a statement. Score Media shares jumped 65% premarket after resuming trading following a halt for the deal news. Penn shares were up 0.6% premarket but are down 23% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 17%.
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