{"id":162584,"date":"2021-01-27T09:21:46","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T17:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=162584"},"modified":"2021-01-27T11:55:28","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T19:55:28","slug":"murren-spac-acies-could-take-mgm-backed-playstudios-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/murren-spac-acies-could-take-mgm-backed-playstudios-public\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Murren SPAC Acies Acquisition in Talks to Take MGM-Supported Playstudios Public"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blank-check firm Acies Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:ACACU) is proving who you know is always important in business.<\/p>\n

\"Murren
Former MGM CEO Jim Murren seen in a 2020 media interview. His SPAC is in talks with a company backed by his former employer. (Image: Bloomberg<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) created last year by former MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) CEO Jim Murren, Dan Fetters, and Edward King is reportedly in discussions to take MGM-backed Playstudios public. Bloomberg<\/i> originally reported<\/a> the news, citing unidentified sources close to the matter. Fetters and King are two ex-investment bankers at Morgan Stanley.<\/p>\n

Acies already has ties with the merger target. Andrew Pascal, the CEO of Playstudios, is a cofounder and adviser to Acies. The longtime casino-industry executive previously served as president of the Wynn Las Vegas resort,\u201d<\/strong> according to the news agency.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pascal’s aunt is Elaine Wynn, the ex-wife of Steve Wynn. He started Playstudios in 2011, making it one of the original names in the now fast-growing social casino industry.<\/p>\n

A merger between Murren’s Acies and Playstudios could value the target at $1 billion or more. The SPAC debuted in the fourth quarter of 2020, trimming its initial public offering (IPO) size to $200 million from $300 million<\/a>. While a deal with Playstudios isn’t confirmed, Acies stock is reflecting expectations that it will come to fruition, as it’s higher by nearly four percent in midday trading.<\/p>\n

Getting Social<\/h2>\n

In a trend largely touched off last year by DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG), the gaming industry is one of the epicenters of SPAC fever, with several companies becoming publicly traded entities via mergers with blank-check firms.<\/p>\n

Many of those transactions focused on iGaming and sports betting. For example, Tilman Fertitta’s Golden Nugget Online Gaming (NASDAQ:GNOG) and Rush Street Interactive<\/a> (NYSE:RSI) went public in late December following SPAC mergers.<\/p>\n

\n

However, there’s an investor appetite for social casinos and purveyors of free-to-play games, too. Skillz Inc. (NYSE:SKLZ), a mobile gaming and esports provider, joined the ranks of public companies last month following a blank-check deal. That stock is higher by 52 percent over the past month. Playtika (NASDAQ:PLTK), the company behind Bingo Blitz and Caesars Slots, went public via traditional means earlier this month in what is 2021’s largest IPO to date.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Demand for the Playtika offering was oversubscribed and the company now has a market capitalization of nearly $13 billion. That indicates Murren and his partners could be striking while the iron is hot to bring Playstudios to public markets.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cRevenue in the social casino market rose 24% to $7 billion worldwide last year, according to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming LLC, a research firm. Playstudios ranked eighth, with revenue of about $274 million,\u201d reports Bloomberg.<\/i><\/p>\n

Playstudios Perks<\/h2>\n

Playstudios’ existing relationship with MGM Resorts is beneficial to users of the platform and could prove to be so for investors.<\/p>\n

The company, which makes games such as myVegas Slots and myVegas Blackjack, has its own loyalty program<\/a> \u2013 playAwards. Members of that club can redeem accrued points at venues operated by — you guessed it — MGM.<\/p>\n

The program applies to a dozen MGM resorts, including Aria, Bellagio, and Mandalay Bay on the Las Vegas Strip, and points can be used for dining, rooms, and other deals, according to <\/strong>Bloomberg<\/strong>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blank-check firm Acies Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:ACACU) is proving who you know is always important in business. The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) created last year by former MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) CEO Jim Murren, Dan Fetters, and Edward King is reportedly in discussions to take MGM-backed Playstudios public. Bloomberg originally reported the news, citing unidentified […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":162585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,32093],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMurren SPAC Acies Could Take MGM-Backed Playstudios Public<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Playstudios, in which MGM Resorts has a financial interest, could go public via a deal with a SPAC started by Jim Murren.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Murren SPAC Acies Could Take MGM-Backed Playstudios Public\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Playstudios, in which MGM Resorts has a financial interest, could go public via a deal with a SPAC started by Jim Murren.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/murren-spac-acies-could-take-mgm-backed-playstudios-public\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-27T17:21:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-27T19:55:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/murren.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"801\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/murren-spac-acies-could-take-mgm-backed-playstudios-public\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/murren-spac-acies-could-take-mgm-backed-playstudios-public\/\",\"name\":\"Murren SPAC Acies Could Take MGM-Backed Playstudios Public\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/murren-spac-acies-could-take-mgm-backed-playstudios-public\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/murren-spac-acies-could-take-mgm-backed-playstudios-public\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/murren.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-27T17:21:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-27T19:55:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Playstudios, in which MGM Resorts has a financial interest, could go public via a deal with a SPAC started by Jim Murren.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/murren-spac-acies-could-take-mgm-backed-playstudios-public\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/murren-spac-acies-could-take-mgm-backed-playstudios-public\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/murren-spac-acies-could-take-mgm-backed-playstudios-public\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/murren.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/murren.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":801,\"caption\":\"Former MGM CEO Jim Murren seen in a 2020 interview. 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