Entain – Bookielink

LatAm Q3 results round-up: Brazil betting launch dominates discussions

With the majority of the gambling industry having published their Q3 results, iGB looks at how operators fared in the region and their plans for the future there.

Brazil will launch its legal betting market on 1 January 2025 and one operator that is hoping to make a real dent in the market is the giant Flutter Entertainment.

Back in September, Flutter announced it had agreed to acquire an initial 56% stake in NSX Group, which operates the Brazil-facing Betnacional brand. The deal is worth $350 million (£266.5 million/€316.0 million).

For the nine months ending 30 September, Flutter reported year-on-year revenue growth in Brazil of 4%. In its earnings call following the Q3 results release, CFO Rob Coldrake spoke of the operator’s excitement for the market opening.

“We’re very confident about our approach in Brazil,” Coldrake told reporters. “We’ve grown with our brands that we’ve got there already. We’re very excited about the NSX acquisition.”

The NSX acquisition will create a new..

July 30, 2024

Caesars’ Big Brazil and Sportingbet apply for Brazil licences

Sportingbet and Caesars Sportsbook’s Big Brazil have submitted their licence applications in Brazil, becoming the fourth and fifth operators to do so.
Sportingbet applied for a Brazil sports betting and igaming licence on Thursday (25 July). The following day, Caesars Sportsbook’s licensee Big Brazil joined Sportingbet, Betano, Superbet and Rei do Pitaco in submitting its application.

In applying during the initial 90-day window of preference, Sportingbet and Big Brazil have ensured their applications will be prioritised by the ministry of finance’s Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA).

The SPA guarantees that operators who submit their applications by the 20 August deadline will have their applications processed by 1 January 2025, the anticipated launch date of the legal market.

Licences will last for five years and will cost BRL30m (£4.6m/€5.4m/$5.9m) in fees. Those who receive a licence will be able to offer gambling via three skins. Meanwhile, operators who fail to secure a lice..

March 25, 2024

Former BetCity owners fire €104 million demand back at Entain

BetCity's former owners have claimed Entain was not only aware of the KSA's investigations, but also severely impacted their earn-out.

The counterclaim against Entain has been submitted by BetCity’s former owners, which consists of various members of the Singels family. Also included are former CEO Melvin Bostelaar and former marketing director Robert Kooiman.

It comes in response to Entain’s original accusation that undeclared regulatory investigations at the time of the acquisition meant the Dutch-facing business was worth as much as €156m (£133m/$169m) less than assumed.

Entain acquired BetCity for €450m in January 2023, with the deal ultimately giving it access to the Dutch market. BetCity was one of the initial 10 licensees in the Netherlands.

However in January this year, Entain launched a compensation claim after details of two regulatory cases came to light. Entain said in the claim it was unaware of the investigations into BetCity when it acquired the business…

September 8, 2023

LeoVegas breaks ground with BetMGM UK

The news that BetMGM would be launching in the UK gave its gambling market a much-needed shake. But it was the fact that LeoVegas, not Entain, would be MGM’s launch partner that really set the conversation alight. Gustaf Hagman, CEO of LeoVegas, believes his company is more than ready to take on the challenge.

To say the journey to the launch of BetMGM UK has been complex would be an understatement.

To the uninitiated, an established US-facing brand – a joint venture of two industry giants – has managed to implant itself into the UK market.

But peeling back the layers reveals a different story. BetMGM’s US offering is a joint venture shared between MGM and Entain. But the launch of BetMGM UK doesn’t include Entain at all.

Instead LeoVegas, which was acquired by MGM Resorts last year for $604m, will power BetMGM’s new UK platform. This means that BetMGM UK will be competing directly against Entain’s UK brands, which include the likes of Ladbrokes, Coral and Gala.

Despite the enormi..

September 7, 2023

Net profit up 56.4% at STS in H1

Net profit at Polish sports betting operator STS Holding grew 56.4% to PLN97m (£18.1m/€21.1m/$22.6m) in the first half of 2023, a period in which it agreed to be acquired by Entain CEE for £750.0m.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the half-year rose by 34.1% to PLN157m.

The news that Entain CEE – Entain’s Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) venture – would acquire Poland’s leading sportsbook operator came in June, after Mateusz Juroszek, chief executive of STS, and his father Zbigniew, entered into an agreement to accept Entain CEE’s acquisition offer.

Entain CEE paid PLN24.80 per STS share. This put the business at an equity value of £750m and an enterprise value of an estimated £690m. The deal closed on 24 August, after STS shareholders – holding 155,591,656 in STS shares – backed the deal.

On the half-year, Mateusz Juroszek said STS focused on optimising its operations during the six months, adding that he projects increased player ..

August 25, 2023

Entain CEE adds another piece to the puzzle with STS

Entain CEE’s £750m acquisition of STS Holdings gives Entain access to Central and Eastern Europe's (CEE) largest economy, Poland. For Mikolaj Cymerman, head of corporate development at Entain CEE, this is just the first step.

The deal for the Polish sportsbook market leader marks the second acquisition made by Entain CEE, a joint venture between Entain and investment management company Emma Capital.

It’s also a major milestone for the two parties. Getting a foot in the door will allow Entain to make serious inroads in the CEE market, one already somewhat carved out by its first acquisition – of Croatia’s SuperSport – last year.

Mikolaj cymerman, head of corporate development, Entain CEE

“Once SuperSport happened, people were thinking ‘OK, so they’ve bought SuperSport and that’s it’,” Cymerman explains. “But now with STS, this kind of structure starts to unravel and people are seeing that this wasn’t a one-trick pony.”

It was this first acquisition that set the wheels in motio..

July 17, 2023

Entain to acquire Angstrom Sports in £200m deal

Entain will acquire sports modelling, forecasting and analytics specialist Angstrom Sports in a deal worth up to £203m.

Under the deal, Entain will pay an initial £81.0m, as well as £122.0m in additional payments over a three-year period, totaling £203.0m.

Angstrom utilises simulation-based predictive modelling to offer a range of pricing and forecasting capabilities to sportsbook clients.

Primarily serving the US market, Angstrom’s offering covers the most popular competitions and leagues in the country.

The acquisition will allow Entain to offer a full suite of end-to-end analytics, risk and pricing capabilities for its US operations, namely BetMGM, which it runs as a joint venture with MGM Resorts International.

This will improve customers’ US sports betting experience including more betting opportunities, optimised parlay and in-play products, it added.

The acquisition is expected to complete during Q3 2023.

Unlocking new US opportunities

“We’re delighted Angstrom will b..

July 14, 2023

Women’s sports boom raises corruption risk, new report warns

Increased and more widespread monitoring of women’s sport should be considered to help combat match-fixing, according to a new report.

‘Breaking Barriers: Assessing Women’s Sports, Betting, and Integrity Challenges’ looked at the current state of female sports around the world.

Presented this week at iGB L!VE, the study had the support of leading industry organisations, operators and suppliers. These included the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), All-In Diversity Project (AIDP), Entain, Flutter and Stats Perform.

The report flagged a “dramatic” rise in women’s sport worldwide, accompanied by a similar increase in betting.

Football led the way in terms of betting activity, with an annual market growth rate of approximately 20% since 2020. This was followed by tennis, basketball and cricket, with growth rates of over 10% during the period from 2017 to 2022.

The study also looked at the characteristics of female bettors. The percentage of female bettors in women’s ..

June 29, 2023

Epic and Entain to educate MLS players on gambling harm

Epic Risk Management and the Entain Foundation US charitable arm of Entain have linked up on a new initiative to educate Major League Soccer (MLS) players about gambling harm.

Under the deal, Epic and Entain will work with the Major League Soccer Players Association (MLSPA), the collective bargaining representative for MLS players.

The three-year programme will include customised gambling harm education and awareness programmes and advisory resources.

Epic will deliver gambling harm prevention education and awareness workshops. It will also make prevention resources, advisory resources and content available to the entire MLSPA membership.

Read the full story on iGB North America

March 27, 2023

Tab NZ pens long-term strategic partnering with Entain

Tab NZ, the sole holder of a betting licence in New Zealand, has entered into a long-term strategic partnership with Entain.

Under the arrangement, which remains subject to ministerial approval, Entain will support Tab NZ with delivering wagering and broadcast functions in the country for a period of 25 years.

Tab NZ said it took the decision to enter such a partnership due to increasing competition, rising costs, capital constraints and other challenges that have impacted its ability to deliver adequate funding to racing and sports.

With these challenges expected to increase, Tab NZ said it had spent the last six months engaging with a range of operators in relation to a strategic partnering arrangement and received a number of proposals, including the successful pitch from Entain.

Specific terms of the deal will remain commercially confidential until approval is granted, but it was confirmed that Entain was selected based on a wide range of criteria, including operational experti..

October 13, 2022

Nygaard-Andersen: Interest rates won’t stop Entain from acquiring

Entain chief executive Jette Nygaard-Andersen has said high interest rates will not stop the business from making new acquisitions, and may even “open up new doors”.

Nygaard-Andersen spoke on an earnings call after Entain published a third-quarter earnings update. Revenue was up 2% year-on-year for the group, thanks to both record customer numbers and a favourable impact from currency movements.

When asked whether the new macroeconomic environment and high interest rates would make acquisitions difficult due to the costs of borrowing money, Nygaard-Andersen said that this was not necessarily the case.

“We of course remain vigilant and very prudent,” she said. “But the health of the business remains good. We still have a strong pipeline on M&A and we have opportunities that we will continue to pursue.”

The results came after a busy period of acquiring for the business, with Nygaard-Anderson noting the business agreed nine acquisitions in the past 18 months, including those of Unikrn..

October 6, 2022

Entain to promote online betting brands at NSW hotels in new deal

Global gambling giant Entain has agreed a new deal with the Australian Hotels Association (AHA), allowing it to promote its online betting brands Neds and Ladbrokes at New South Wales hotels.

The agreement comes despite hotels in the state having an existing exclusivity deal with Tabcorp, the national totalisator board.

As a result, the deal will not involve any Entain wagering terminals, or hotel staff accepting or taking commission for bets. Instead, Ladbrokes and Neds will simply be advertised at these venues.

“For decades now, many NSW hotels have operated PubTABs for Tabcorp at a significant loss – primarily due to high Sky Channel and EBT (betting terminal) fees,” AHA NSW CEO John Whelan said. “In-country NSW it’s even worse, with the majority of country pubs currently running their PubTAB at a loss.

“Today’s partnership with a world leader in Entain will finally give NSW hotels competition and choice.”

An evolution?

Entertain Australia chief executive Dean Shannon said th..

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Tag: Entain