Score Media & Gaming Inc. to be snapped up by Barstool Sports backer Penn National for $2.2B - Toronto Star

Penn National Gaming Inc. has agreed to buy Canadian sports media company Score Media & Gaming Inc. for $2.2 billion in cash and stock.

The companies, which formed a strategic partnership in 2019, have both looked to gain ground in North America’s fast-growing sports betting industry.

The Toronto-based company’s theScore app is the top sports app in Canada and the third most-popular in North America. Penn National operates 44 casinos and racetracks across the continent, many of them under the Hollywood Casino brand, and has a 36 per cent stake in Barstool Sports.

As part of the deal, Score shareholders will receive $17 (U.S.) in cash and 0.2398 of a Penn National share for each Score share, or $32.88 a share based on Wednesday’s close. The companies valued the deal at about $2 billion.

“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,” Penn National chief executive officer Jay Snowden said in a statement Thursday morning.

Score surged 56 per cent to $28.33 (Cnd) at 9:37 a.m. Thursday in New York after climbing as much as 63 per cent, the most intraday since November. Penn National fell 1.2 per cent to $65.44 (U.S.).

The merger comes as Canada moves to legalize single-event sports betting. In June, Ottawa passed Bill C-218, the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, which gives authority to the provinces to license and regulate sports betting.

Until now, Canadian bettors were only allowed to wager on two or more games.

“We’ve built an innovative, technology-led integrated media and gaming business that has us poised for success across North America, including the highly anticipated upcoming rollout of commercial sports betting in Canada,” said John Levy, CEO of theScore.

“With Penn’s support, we will continue to invest in building our Canadian operations, growing our footprint and expanding our workforce.”

With files from Bloomberg

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Score Media & Gaming Inc. to be snapped up by Barstool Sports backer Penn National for $2.2B - Toronto Star
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