Barstool Sports
Score Media and Gaming Inc. surged as much as 82% to $33.16 a share Thursday after Penn National Gaming said it plans to acquire the sports media firm for $2 billion in cash and stock options.
Shares hit their highest point in over five months while trading volume rocketed. Over 16 million of shares changed hands Thursday, compared to the average trading volume of 604,576.
According to a company statement, Score Media and Gaming operates the number one sports app in Canada-called theScore-which provides sports fans with live scores, news, stats, and betting information. theScore is also the third most popular sports app in all of North America.
Penn National said the acquisition will fortify the company's "bespoke digital media and gaming strategy." The acquisition comes after Penn bought a 36% stake in Barstool Sports in 2020.
"theScore's unique media platform and modern, state-of-the art technology is a powerful complement to the reach of Barstool Sports and its popular personalities and content," said Penn CEO Jay Snowden.
Barstool president Dave Portnoy cheered the Score Media acquisition on his Twitter Thursday morning.
"There is nobody else who does what they do," Portnoy told his 2.6 million followers. "It is the perfect compliment for us. Tech, market, mind space. We will control the entire ecosystem with their help from tech to media."
Shares of Penn National Gaming were up over 5% Thursday mid-morning.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.
