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Acies Acquisition Corporation

Acies Acquisition Corporation

Oct 16, 2020 by Roman Developer

PROPOSED BUSINESS COMBINATION: PLAYSTUDIOS

ENTERPRISE VALUE: $1.1 billion
ANTICIPATED SYMBOL: MYPS

PLAYSTUDIOS, Inc. (“PLAYSTUDIOS”), an award-winning developer of free-to-play casual games for mobile and social platforms that offer real-world rewards to loyal players, and Acies Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: ACAC) (“Acies”) have entered into a definitive merger agreement. The transaction values the Company at an enterprise value of $1.1 billion or 2.5x 2022e revenue.

PLAYSTUDIOS has developed a portfolio of beautifully designed, top-ranked games that have attracted a loyal following due, in part, to the company’s unmatched playAWARDS Loyalty Program. The program lets players earn real-world rewards from a curated collection of over 80 partners and 275 entertainment, retail, travel, leisure, and gaming brands. To date, the PLAYSTUDIOS community has used its in-app loyalty points to purchase over 10 million rewards with a retail value of nearly $500 million. The Company has been named a Top Developer by App Annie, the gaming industry’s leader in app analytics and aggregated app performance data.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.

TRANSACTION SUMMARY

The transaction is expected to deliver up to $291 million of net proceeds to the combined company, including the contribution of up to $215 million of cash held in SCH’s trust account from its initial public offering in October 2020. The combination is further supported by a $250 billion PIPE. There is $150M worth of selling shareholders in the transaction.

 

PIPE

  • $250M PIPE at a price of $10.00 per share of common stock
  • Funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, ClearBridge Investments, Neuberger Berman Funds, and MGM Resorts International are leading participants

NOTABLE CONDITIONS TO CLOSING

  • Other conditions to PlayStudios’ obligations to consummate the Mergers include, among others, that as of the Closing, (i) the Domestication has been completed, (ii) the amount of cash available in (x) the trust account into which substantially all of the proceeds from Acies’ initial public offering has been deposited for the benefit of Acies, certain of its public shareholders and the underwriters of Acies’ initial public offering (the “Trust Account”), after deducting the amount required to satisfy Acies’ obligations to its shareholders (if any) that exercise their rights to redeem their Acies Class A Ordinary Shares pursuant to the Cayman Constitutional Documents (but prior to payment of (A) any deferred underwriting commissions being held in the Trust Account and (B) any transaction expenses of Acies or its affiliates) plus (y) the PIPE Investment, is at least $200,000,000 minus qualified expenses related to the cost of filing fees and seeking governmental approval of the Mergers.

NOTABLE CONDITIONS TO TERMINATION

  • The Merger Agreement may be terminated at any time prior to the Closing (i) by mutual written agreement of Acies and PlayStudios, (ii) by PlayStudios or Acies, if (a) Closing has not occurred on or before August 15, 2021, subject to requirements set forth in the Merger Agreement

SPONSOR SUPPORT AGREEMENT

  • On February 1, 2021, Acies entered into a Sponsor Support Agreement, pursuant to which the Sponsor and each director of Acies agreed, among other things
    • (i) to vote in favor of the Merger Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby
    • (ii) that 900,000 Acies Class B Ordinary Shares held by the Sponsor shall become unvested and subject to forfeiture if certain earnout conditions described more fully in the Sponsor Support Agreement are not satisfied
    • (iii) to forfeit, for no consideration, 850,000 Acies Class B Ordinary Shares held by the Sponsor and 715,000 Acies Private Placement Warrants (as defined in the Sponsor Support Agreement)
    • (iv) to forfeit additional Acies Class B Ordinary Shares conditioned on certain redemptions of Acies Class A Ordinary Shares that are more fully set forth in the Sponsor Support Agreement
    • (v) not to transfer any Acies Class B Ordinary Shares or Acies Private Placement Warrants (together, the “Sponsor Lockup Securities”) until the date that is 12 months after the Closing, except that on the date that is 180 days after the Closing, an amount of Sponsor Lockup Securities equal to the lesser of (A) 5% of the Sponsor Lockup Securities held by each holder of Sponsor Lockup Securities and (B) 50,000 Sponsor Lockup Securities held by each holder of Sponsor Lockup Securities, will no longer be subject to the transfer restrictions in each case, subject to the terms and conditions contemplated by the Sponsor Support Agreement.

LOCK-UP

Sponsor Lockup:

  • 12 months after the Closing, except that on the date that is 180 days after the Closing, an amount of Sponsor Lockup Securities equal to the lesser of (A) 5% of the Sponsor Lockup Securities held by each holder of Sponsor Lockup Securities and (B) 50,000 Sponsor Lockup Securities held by each holder of Sponsor Lockup Securities, will no longer be subject to the transfer restrictions in each case, subject to the terms and conditions contemplated by the Sponsor Support Agreement.

Target Lockup:

  • Such restrictions begin at Closing and end at the date that is 12 months after the Closing, except that on the date that is 180 days after the Closing, an amount of PlayStudios Lockup Securities equal to the lesser of (A) 5% of the PlayStudios Lockup Securities held by each holder of PlayStudios Lockup Securities and (B) 50,000 PlayStudios Lockup Securities held by each holder of PlayStudios Lockup Securities, will no longer be subject to the transfer restrictions.

FORFEITURE

  • Sponsor to forfeit, for no consideration, 850,000 Acies Class B Ordinary Shares held by the Sponsor and 715,000 Acies Private Placement Warrants (as defined in the Sponsor Support Agreement)
  • Sponsor to forfeit additional Acies Class B Ordinary Shares conditioned on certain redemptions of Acies Class A Ordinary Shares that are more fully set forth in the Sponsor Support Agreement

EARNOUT

  • $12.50 Share Price Milestone. If the closing share price of PubCo Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $12.50 per share for any 20 trading days within any consecutive 30-trading day period commencing on or after the 150th day after the Closing Date and ending on or prior to the five (5)-year anniversary of the Closing Date (the first occurrence of the foregoing is referred to herein as the “$12.50 Share Price Milestone”
  • $15.00 Share Price Milestone. If the closing share price of PubCo Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $15.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any consecutive 30-trading day period commencing on or after the 150th day after the Closing Date and ending on or prior to the five (5)-year anniversary of the Closing Date (the first occurrence of the foregoing is referred to herein as the “$15.00 Share Price Milestone”

ADVISORS

  • J.P. Morgan and LionTree Advisors are acting as financial advisors to PLAYSTUDIOS.
  • Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is acting as legal advisor to the company.
  • Morgan Stanley is acting as capital markets advisor to Acies Acquisition Corp.
  • Latham & Watkins LLP is acting as legal advisor to Acies.
  • J.P. Morgan, LionTree Advisors, Morgan Stanley, and Oppenheimer & Co. are acting as placement agents for the PIPE.

MANAGEMENT & BOARD

Executive Officers

Daniel Fetters, 42
Co-Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Fetters spent 20 years at Morgan Stanley from July 2000 to September 2020. Mr. Fetters served as a Managing Director in Morgan Stanley’s Mergers and Acquisition Group and became the Head of Western Region M&A in 2017, a position he held until his retirement in September 2020. Prior to his move to Los Angeles in 2005, Mr. Fetters spent five years with Morgan Stanley in New York focused on the Media & Communications sectors in both a financing and M&A capacity. Mr. Fetters received a B.S. in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

Edward King, 46
Co-Chief Executive Officer

Mr. King spent 20 years at Morgan Stanley, from March 2000 to September 2020, where, since January 2010, he served as Managing Director and Global Head of Gaming Investment Banking. In this capacity, Mr. King provided strategic and financial advice to clients on M&A and helped clients raise debt and equity capital in the public and private markets. Between July 1996 and February 2000, Mr. King was an investment banker at Lehman Brothers, working during this period in their London, Los Angeles and New York offices. Mr. King was a Board Member of the American Gaming Association from January 2014 to December 2015 and from January 2018 to December 2019. Mr. King has been a speaker at G2E, G2E Asia, International Association of Gaming Regulators, International Masters of Gaming Law, and International Association of Gaming Advisors conferences. Mr. King holds M.Phil, MA and BA degrees in economics from Cambridge University, England.

Christopher Grove, 44
Executive Vice President

Mr. Grove has been a partner at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming since March 2017 and first joined them in December 2014, and is also on the board of FansUnite (FANS.CN). Mr. Grove also co-founded PlayUSA Media in January 2013, which was acquired by Catena Media in 2017. Following the acquisition, he also served as the Acting Director for Catena Media’s U.S. division through the completion of the transaction in October 2019. Mr. Grove received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the Illinois State University.

 

Board of Directors

James J. Murren, 59
Chairman

Mr. Murren is the Chair of the Nevada COVID-19 Response, Relief and Recovery Task Force. He was the chair of the Leadership Board of the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine and has been a member of the Board of Trustees for Howard University since 2016. Mr. Murren first joined MGM Resorts International in 1998 as the Chief Financial Officer and served as the Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International from December 2008 to February 2020. He also served as Chairman of the American Gaming Association from 2014 to 2017, was on the Board of Trustees of the Brookings Institution from 2011 to 2018, served on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council from December 2013 to 2020, and served as a director of Delta Petroleum Corporation from February 2008 to November 2011. Mr. Murren co-founded the Nevada Cancer Institute, which was the official cancer institute for the state of Nevada until 2013, and served as a director from 2002 to 2012. Mr. Murren is also a founding contributor to Nevada’s first Fisher House, which provides housing for military and Veterans’ families, which was founded in February 2016. He also served as a member of the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of leading U.S. companies. Mr. Murren received his Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College. He is a CFA® charterholder.

Zach Leonsis, 32
Director

Mr. Leonsis has been the senior vice president of strategic initiatives for Monumental Sports & Entertainment since June 2017 and general manager of Monumental Sports Network since February 2016. Mr. Leonsis received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.B.A. from Georgetown University.

Brisa Trinchero, 41
Director

Ms. Trinchero is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Princess Grace Foundation-USA & Grace de Monaco LLC since April 2019 and also serves as a trustee of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts since July 2019 and as an advisor for the American Theater Wing since July 2020 and Selladoor Worldwide since July 2017. Previously, Ms. Trinchero served as the Director of Innovation at the John Gore Organization from September 2017 to March 2019 and as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ShooWin from September 2015 to December 2017. Ms. Trinchero received her Bachelor of Arts from Portland State University and her M.B.A. from the University of Portland.

Andrew Zobler, 59
Director

Mr. Zobler has been the Founder & CEO of the Sydell Group, a hospitality company, since October 2005. Prior to founding Sydell Group, Mr. Zobler served as Partner and Chief Investment Officer of André Balazs Properties from January 2003 to October 2005, and as a Principal in the Managing Member of the real estate fund Lazard Freres Real Estate Investors, LLC from May 2000 to January 2003. He joined Lazard from Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 2000, where he served as the Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development from April 1998 to May 2000. Before joining Starwood, Mr. Zobler was a partner in the real estate group at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, LLP in their New York office from January 1997 to April 1998 specializing in hotel transactions. Mr. Zobler received his Bachelor of Arts from SUNY Binghamton and his Juris Doctor degree from Brooklyn Law School.

Sam Kennedy, 47
Director

Mr. Kennedy has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Boston Red Sox since August 2015 and has been a member of the baseball club’s upper management hierarchy since March 2002. He also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Fenway Sports Management, a sports marketing and sales agency that is a sister company to the Boston Red Sox under the Fenway Sports Group family. Mr. Kennedy also serves on the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Trustee/Advisory Board since October 2016 and the Marketing Committee since September 2016, the Winsor School Board of Trustees since the 2018 academic year, the Dana-Farber’s Visiting Committee for Institute Initiatives since February 2016, the BASE’s Advisory Committee since October 2017, and the Camp Harbor View Board of Directors since July 2016. Mr. Kennedy received his Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College.

ByRoman Developer