NEW YORK—Live TV streaming platform fuboTV and virtual entertainment company FaceBank Group will move forward as a single entity known as fuboTV Inc. following the announcement of a definitive merger agreement.
The merger will create a new digital entertainment company that combines fuboTV’s streaming platform that is used by cord-cutters with FaceBank’s technology-driven IP in sports, movies and live performances for a content delivery platform that works with both traditional and future-form IP. The addition to FaceBank is expected to boost fuboTV’s sports and entertainment offerings.
Another component of the merger will be the integration of FaceBank’s Nexway AG, a global ecommerce and payment platform available in 180 countries and accepting about 140 currencies. This will reportedly help fuboTV with its global expansion.
When the merger is complete, fuboTV will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of FaceBank; FaceBank will then be renamed fuboTV Inc. The combined company will be headquartered in New York and led by fuboTV CEO David Gandler in the same role. Additional information on the new company’s management structure will be announced at a later date.
“The business combination of FaceBank Group and fuboTV accelerates our ability to build a category defining company and supports our goal to provide consumers with a technology-driven cable TV replacement service for the whole family,” said Gandler. “In the current COVID-19 environment, stay-at-home stocks make perfect sense—we plan to accelerate our timing to uplist to a major exchange as soon as possible.”
The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2020, according to the two companies.
