As the NBA season starts, Brooklyn Nets basketball player Kevin Durant begins his quest for another NBA title and his quest to stay championship-ready in business.
According to Front Office Sports, Durant is involved in a
merger between ticket search engine platform SeatGeek and blank check company RedBall Acquisition Corporation. Last week, SeatGeek announced that it has reached an agreement to take the company public via a SPAC (Special-purpose acquisition company) with RedBall Acquisition Corp.The merger between the companies is worth $1.35 billion based on the following figures compiled by Front Office Sports:
- Existing SeatGeek equity rollover: $1.28 billion
- Cash from RedBall SPAC: $575 million
- PIPE: $100 million
- RedBall sponsor promote: $62 million
- Pro forma cash on SeatGeek’s balance sheet: $669 million (subtracted off the total value of the deal)
Durant’s involvement is within the PIPE (private investment in public equity) that is anticipated to be used to help finance the pending transaction. He is one of the private institutional investors, along with Accel, and owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, Ryan Smith.
They will be allowed to gain exclusive access to purchase shares in a public company at a below-market price. PIPE financing provides the investors a chance to generate outsized returns in relation relative to what they would receive in the broader public markets because of their entry price point.Durant’s off-the-court business investments are making him a champion.
Earlier this summer, Weedmaps, a leading technology platform for people and businesses who purchase and engage in cannabis, entered into a multi-year agreement with Durant, his investment company, Thirty Five Ventures, and his media company, Boardroom.
With this partnership, Durant and Weedmaps aim to deconstruct further the negative stereotypes associated with cannabis. It also anticipates elevating the conversation around cannabis’s potential for athlete wellness and recovery.
Durant’s early investment in Coinbase has reportedly
paid off for him in a major way. With Durant and the Grammy Award-winning rapper Nas making early investments in Coinbase, their reported return on investment is estimated to be in the multimillions. The NBA superstart invested in the company back in 2017 when it was valued at $1.6 billion. But now with its increased valuation, Durant’s investment is said to be worth 53 times what it was four years ago, Marketwatch reported.