Investment

PlayUp launches strategic review to explore potential sale after FTX deal fell through

By Sonja Lindenberg - 12 Jul, 2022

Australian sports betting technology company PlayUp has quietly revealed that a potential sale or merger is back on the cards.

Last year, the company hit the headlines when a planned $450m acquisition by Bahamas-based crypto firm FTX never materialised.

What followed was a public blame game which ended with a series of lawsuits between then-US CEO Laila Mintas and global CEO Daniel Simic.

PlayUp accused Mintas of telling FTX-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried that PlayUp had systemic issues and was “not a clean company” while Mintas alleged that the deal fell through because Simic made unreasonable and unethical demands.

PlayUp is currently expanding its business in the US market and included the information about its renewed sale process at the end of a press release about its technology platform, which is currently working through completion of the certification process by Gaming Labs International (GLI).

The company said it has initiated a process to evaluate strategic alternatives and “intends to consider a full range of alternatives, including strategic partnerships, a sale of the company or other possible transactions”.

Innovation Capital LLC has been retained as its exclusive financial adviser to assist with the strategic review process.

PlayUp is already live in the US with a presence in New Jersey and Colorado with sports betting and across more than 25 states with its pooled betting real-money gaming product, Slots+.

The company’s betting, entertainment and sports technology (BEST) platform will allow users to have a single account, single wallet and single app in the US or Australia to make bets across all supported products. All BEST intellectual property is self-developed and owned by PlayUp.