NBA star Kevin Durant backs $200 million SPAC
- Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant backed special purpose acquisition company Infinite Acquisition Corp, which filed for an initial public offering for $200 million.
- The NBA All-Star will serve as co-CEO of Infinite, which will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
- Sports gambling company DraftKings used a SPAC to go public in 2020.
Basketball star Kevin Durant is betting on a blank check company.
The Brooklyn Nets forward will serve as the co-CEO of Infinite Acquisition Corp, which filed for an initial public offering for $200 million on Wednesday. Infinite will sell 20 million shares at $10 and return money to investors if it doesn't acquire a company to take public within 24 months. Among the targets: sports, e-commerce, and cryptocurrency companies.
The news was first reported by Reuters.
The special purpose acquisition company will trade under the ticker symbol "NFNT.U" on the New York Stock Exchange.
A SPAC, also known as a blank check company, is formed to raise capital through an initial public offering to acquire existing companies. The funds are placed in a two-year escrow account, and once a deal is identified, it's presented to investors.
Investors can exit if they don't approve a proposal. But if a deal is secured, investors can also obtain stock warrants – options to buy shares of the new company purchased at a future date.
Sports betting company DraftKings used a blank check company to go public in 2020.
Over $100 billion in SPAC deals occurred in 2021, according to Reuters. But the market has cooled after a Securities and Exchange Commission accounting crackdown.
Durant, 33, is an active investor through his firm Thirty Five Ventures.
Last month, he joined another IPO for secondary-ticket service SeatGeek. That company entered a business combination agreement valued at $1.35 billion with RedBall Acquisition Corp.
Durant is also a team investor in a Major League Soccer club, and banking app Goalsetter. Last April, he joined hip-hop star Drake and Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos' investment firm to become a stakeholder in the sports media company Overtime.
Durant has made over $300 million in his pro career, according to Spotrac. That figure will only increase with his latest National Basketball Association deal. Last August, he agreed to a four-year extension worth $194.2 million with the Nets. That contract expires in 2026, and Durant will make $53 million in the final year.
On the court, the Nets are 4-3 so far this season, and Durant is averaging 27.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in those seven contests. The Nets host the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday at the Barclays Center.