Sports-centric brokerdealer Fantex announced it raised enough capital to close 523,700 shares of Buffalo Bills quarterback EJ Manuel and shares of his convertible tracking stock. The IPO required help from the company which stepped up to buy 250,000 shares, or 48 percent of its own shares of the total offered amount.
Trading under the Fantex ticker EJMLL, the stock began trading last week at Fantex.com. This is the second successful athlete IPO that Fantex has been able to close. CEO Buck French voiced his excitement on the success of the program and future plans to build E.J. Manuel’s NFL Brand.
Fantex, a sports marketing stock exchange, allows traders to capture a share of contracted athletes’ career earnings potential. On its exchange, Fantex offered 523,700 shares of stock at $10 per share on Manuel. In return, Fantex will pay Manuel almost $5 million up front to receive 10% of his future earnings tied to his “brand.” These future earnings include any NFL contracts, marketing endorsements, post-career broadcasting contracts, and any other checks he’ll cash through his NFL “brand.”
A full exploration of the firm’s operations, business model and potential risks to investors is the subject of a feature story in the print debut of The Alpha Pages