A SPAC backed by an LA Dodgers co-owner will take online ticket marketplace Vivid Seats public at a $2 billion valuation

• A SPAC backed by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly is taking online ticket marketplace Vivid Seats public.
• The deal will put the combined valuation of both companies at $1.95 billion.
• The SPAC, Horizon Acquisition, will provide around $769 million of gross proceeds to Vivid Seats, including a $225 million PIPE.

A blank check company backed by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly announced Thursday that it is taking online ticket marketplace Vivid Seats public, putting the combined valuation of both companies at $1.95 billion.

Boehly's Horizon Acquisition SPAC will provide around $769 million of gross proceeds to Vivid Seats, including a $225 million private investment in public equity, or PIPE, at $10 per share from investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company and Eldridge Industries, which Boehly is CEO of.

The new company will be led by Vivid Seats CEO Stan Chia. Boehly, chairman and CEO of the SPAC, will join the Vivid Seats' board of directors.

"Vivid Seats has built an impressive technology platform, as well as a substantial customer base," Boehly, who is also the founder of Eldridge Industries, said in a statement. "Vivid Seats is a scaled, growing and highly profitable marketplace that will be well-positioned to drive continual long-term growth."

Vivid Seats is a live portal that connects fans with ticket sellers across. The Chicago-based company is poised to take advantage of consumers' pent-up demand - after being locked in their homes due to the pandemic - to attend sports, concert, and theater events as Covid-19 restrictions worldwide ease.

The online ticket marketplace currently supports over 12 million customers and 3,400 sellers across more than 200,000 listed events. Founded in 2001, the company counts ESPN and The Rolling Stones as its partner, among others.

Evercore is acting as financial and capital adviser to Vivid Seats, while Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities and RBC Capital Markets are advising Horizon on the deal.

SPACs, shell companies seeking to merge with private companies with the intention of taking them public, have boomed.

In 2020, a total of 248 SPACs raised $83.3 billion according to SPAC Analytics. But by April of this year, 308 SPACs have raised $99.7 billion, comprising 65% of all IPOs.

While the boom in SPACs has slowed recently, Goldman Sachs said these could still drive $900 billion of dealmaking over the next two years.