Unibet acquires iGame Holdings plc
News on 7 Aug 2015
News on 7 Aug 2015
The Unibet publicly listed online gambling group has reached agreement with iGame Holding plc to acquire 100 percent of the company for an initial cash payment of Euro 59 million, with a further Euro 20 million possible in payments contingent on performance targets being met.
The iGame Group is a specialist gambling operator with focus in the Nordics and Central Europe offering online casino, poker and sports betting through seven local brands.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in the second half of Q3-2015.
Unibet says that the transaction will increase its market share in the strategic Nordic markets ahead of re-regulation that is expected to develop in the coming years.
The initial price of Euro 59 million is payable fully in cash on completion. Earn-out payments may be payable based on iGame’s results for the period up to 30 June 2016. The earn-out payment is calculated on a multiple of 6.2 times EBITDA up to a cap of Euro 20 million including an element for over-performance.
In the six month period to 30 June 2015, the GWR of iGame was Euro 13.7 million with EBITDA at Euro 4.7 million. For the second quarter of 2015, the number of quarterly active customers amounted to 75,000.
The current management team of iGame, under the leadership of CEO Tommi Maijala, will remain with the business and are subject to retention arrangements to deliver the business plan during the next three years. In total, iGame has approximately 130 employees, the majority of whom are based in Malta.
The combined group expects to achieve synergies from the transaction, including a wider product portfolio, effective marketing, economies of scale associated with third-party procurement of products and media.
“The iGame brands are well known in their local markets and we see a lot of potential by combining our bigger scale, mobile, cross channel and product expertise with their local focus. As the majority of the iGame revenues comes from Casino, our joint plan is to keep a number of these brands as a complement to our existing brands, Unibet and Maria.” Henrik Tjärnström, CEO Unibet, said in a company statement.
