DraftKings announced Monday that it has entered into a business combination agreement with Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp. DEAC to become a publicly traded company.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2020.
Once the transaction is closed, Diamond Eagle intends to change its name to DraftKings Inc., reincorporate in Nevada and remain Nasdaq-listed under a new ticker symbol.
The combined company will be a “vertically integrated pure-play sports betting and online gaming” company based in the U.S., DraftKings said.
The new combined company is expected to have equity market capitalization at closing of approximately $3.3 billion and over $500 million of unrestricted cash on the balance sheet.
DraftKings will continue to be led by co-founder and CEO Jason Robins and will retain its management team, including co-founders Paul Liberman and Matt Kalish, the company said.
“The combination of DraftKings’ leading and trusted brand, deep focus on customer experience and data science expertise and SBTech’s highly innovative and proven technology platform creates a vertically integrated powerhouse,” Robins said in a statement.
Institutional investors have committed to a private investment of $304 million in Class A common stock of the combined company that will close concurrently with the business combination, according to DraftKings.
Diamond Eagle's trust account currently holds $400 million, according to the Monday announcement.
Diamond Eagle shares were trading 6.1% higher at $10.17 in Monday's premarket session.
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