Amaya unbundles further non-core assets
News on 9 Apr 2015
News on 9 Apr 2015
Online gambling group Amaya Gaming has again made good on its undertakings to shed non-core assets, announcing the sale this week of software developers Amaya (Alberta) – formerly Chartwell Technology – and Cryptologic to NYX Gaming Group for a consideration of Cdn$ 150 million satisfied through a share purchase agreement.
The transaction is anticipated to close before the end of the third quarter of 2015 and is subject to financing and other closing conditions.
Announcing the deal, NYX revealed that it has also been appointed as a preferred supplier to Amaya as part of the agreement.
Earlier this year, Amaya announced its intention to divest the B2B business and its other non-core B2B assets in order to pay down debt and/or buy back shares. Amaya had previously granted NYX a right-of-first-offer to acquire the B2B business concurrent with Amaya’s sale of Ongame Network Ltd. to NYX in November, 2014 .
The B2B business is being acquired on a cash-free, debt-free basis, and on closing the deal, NYX will enter into a preferred supplier licensing agreement with a subsidiary of Amaya to provide online casino gaming content to Amaya’s real-money casino offering, which will be integrated into the PokerStars and Full Tilt branded casino websites.
NYX says its acquisition includes around 300 games, and it has also integrated onto its remote gaming server a number of top titles from the world’s leading developers. The business also has a real-money gaming platform and services some of the world’s leading online casino providers.
For the fiscal 12 month unaudited period ending December 31, 2014, the assets generated approximately CAD$17.4 million in revenue and an EBITDA loss of approximately Cdn$7.6 million.
Management expects substantial synergies flowing from the acquisition of approximately Cdn$7 to Cdn$9 million, with over half realised in the first twelve months.
The preferred licensing agreement will run for six years, providing Amaya with access to the combined library of NYX content and the newly acquired Chartwell and Cryptologic content.
NYX is confident regarding the future growth and development of Amaya, and says that the acquisition of Chartwell and Cryptolgic will boost its games inventory from 350 to 650 games, and its client list from 130 to more than 170.
Amaya has agreed to a minimum license commitment to NYX of Cdn$12 million a year for the first three years of the agreement.
NYX will also benefit from exposure across Amaya websites.
NYX says it intends to finance the acquisition through a combination of cash on hand, new debt and/or the issue of equity. Canaccord Genuity Corp. is acting as exclusive financial advisor for NYX with respect to the acquisition.
NYX chief executive, Matt Davey revealed that as part of his company’s acquisition of the Ongame poker network last year from Amaya he negotiated a right of first offer to purchase the Cryptologic and Chartwell business.
“This transaction completes the strategy we embarked upon with Ongame,” Davey said Thursday. “We believe there to be a substantial growth opportunity in the PokerStars and Full Tilt casino offering, which we anticipate benefiting from as part of our licensing agreement with Amaya.”
“We are pleased to further deepen our relationship with NYX as a strategic partner and supplier to our B2C online casino operations,” said David Baazov, CEO of Amaya. “This transaction is consistent with our stated strategy of divesting our non- core B2B assets, while still giving us the ability to offer popular games and new and innovative titles on a regular basis from Chartwell, CryptoLogic, and now NYX.”
Amaya recently announced it intended to spin off its Diamond Game Enterprises subsidiary through an initial public offering of a newly formed Innova Gaming Group. The company also announced plans to sell its Cadillac Jack slot machine manufacturing subsidiary to AGM for Cdn$476 million .
