Another Indian tech firm is reportedly working on a US listing by early next year. According to news reports, the 13 year-old sport tech startup firm, Dream Sports may raise $1.5 billion through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) or blank cheque company.
The fantasy gaming company is looking to raise $1.5 billion at a valuation of $6 billion, according to a report in The Economic Times. Dream Sports houses brands like Dream11, FanCode and DreamX.
A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is a company with no commercial operations that is formed strictly to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) for the purpose of acquiring an existing company. Also known as "blank check companies," SPACs have been around for decades. For private companies, SPAC is an easier and cheaper alternate route to raise funds, as compared to the traditional IPO process, which is cumbersome, expensive, and time-consuming, according to a report in KrASIA.
A person aware of the development told ET: "The bankers have made presentations. The company indicated that the next round of fundraising could be through a listing. So talks are in that direction.” Harsh Jain, co-founder of Dream Sports, did not respond to the news development, the report said.
As per the news report, banks like Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Citigroup are in talks with the company for the probable listing.
In March, the Bengaluru-based unicorn had raised Dream Sports raised $400 million in a secondary round which valued the company at $5 billion. Dream11 became India’s first gaming startup to be valued at over $1 billion a year ago.
