Aquisitions/Mergers
FDJ’s tender offer for Kindred succeeds, creating a European gaming champion
La Française des Jeux (FDJ) announces the success of its tender offer for Kindred Group plc, a leading player in the online betting and gaming sector in Europe.
At the end of the offer period ending on 2 October, 195,659,291 Kindred Swedish Depository Receipts (SDRs), representing 90.66% of the Group’s capital, were tendered. FDJ had also acquired 2,400,000 Kindred SDRs directly from Veralda, representing 1.11% of the Group’s share capital.
With the condition precedent of controlling more than 90% of Kindred’s share capital1 fulfilled, FDJ decided to complete the acquisition of Kindred Group plc. Settlement-delivery for Kindred shareholders who have tendered their SDRs to the offer will take place from 11 October and FDJ will implement a squeeze-out procedure on Nasdaq Stockholm.
In addition, FDJ announces that it is extending its offer until 18 October 2024 at 5 p.m. CEST to enable Kindred shareholders who have not tendered their shares to do so on unchanged terms, i.e. SEK 130 per SDR. Settlement and delivery will take place from 29 October.
Kindred is one of the top five online betting and gaming players in Western Europe, present in seven of the top ten European markets, chief among them the Netherlands, the UK, France, Sweden and Belgium. It offers a comprehensive online offering (sports and horse betting, poker and casino), operating brands such as Unibet and 32Red.
This transaction of nearly €2.5 billion creates a European champion with a diversified and balanced profile, based on monopoly activities, primarily lotteries, in France and Ireland, and on online sports betting and gaming activities open to competition in Europe.
The new combined group resulting from this offer will generate around 26% of its revenue internationally, and its online gaming range open to competition will account for around 27% of its business.
Stéphane Pallez, Chairwoman and CEO of the FDJ Group, said: “I am delighted to announce today the acquisition of Kindred, a leading European player in the competitive online betting and gaming sector. Kindred has strong brands, recognised technological excellence and an attractive growth and profitability profile, all of which will bolster FDJ’s strengths. The two groups also share high standards for responsible gaming and a business model that combines performance and responsibility. This acquisition creates a new European champion that intends to pursue its strategy of sustainable and profitable growth for the benefit of all its stakeholders.”
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Aquisitions/Mergers
Merkur Group Strengthens its Market Presence in Spain
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Merkur Slots Spain has completed the acquisition of a total of eleven arcades operated by arcade operator Operjoku S.L.U. in the Basque Country. In addition, the subsidiary of Merkur Group, headquartered in Palma de Mallorca, will take over the operation of gaming machines in 108 bars previously serviced by Operkale S.L.U., a specialist in the placement of gaming machines in gastronomy in the autonomous region of northern Spain. Implemented in cooperation with the Spanish distributor Merkur Dosniha, the acquisition marks a significant milestone in the expansion of the company’s brand presence, representing its first entry into Spain’s highly profitable hospitality installation segment.
With this step, the East Westphalian corporate group continues its international growth trajectory. Meik Sellenriek, Management Board Member, Merkur Operations at Merkur.com AG, welcomed the development: “Spain is a market of great importance and long-term potential for the Merkur Group. This acquisition clearly underlines that. We are proud to welcome around 50 new employees to the company and look forward with confidence to strengthening our market position.”
Dominik Raasch, Management Board Member, Merkur Games at Merkur.com AG, said: “There are strong synergies between the Merkur Group’s business divisions. The successful acquisition of Operjoku and Operkale demonstrates how effectively we leverage these synergies to support our sustainable growth. We are particularly pleased to now offer our innovative gaming machines and games in our own arcades and bars in the Basque Country – one of Spain’s most economically powerful regions.”
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Aquisitions/Mergers
Nederlandse Loterij Acquires Lotify
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The Dutch Lottery (Nederlandse Loterij) has completed the full acquisition of Lotify. Lotify supports sports associations, sports clubs, charities, events and businesses in organising fundraising lotteries and competitions. With this acquisition, the Dutch Lottery strengthens its position as an innovative and responsible gambling provider.
Since 2021, the Dutch Lottery has held a majority stake in Lotify. The platform offers a comprehensive solution for organising lotteries and competitions that comply with all legal requirements: from permits and technology to participant communication, draws and payouts.
Arjan Blok, CEO of the Dutch Lottery, said: “The Dutch Lottery has almost 300 years of experience organizing fun and responsible games of chance. As a fully integrated part of the Dutch Lottery, Lotify can leverage our knowledge, network, and impact even more effectively. This allows us to support even more sports federations, clubs, and charities. Especially in these times, they are looking for new ways to raise funds.”
Guy van Iperen, founder of Lotify, said: “After four years of intensive collaboration, the time has come to transfer Lotify to the Dutch Lottery. This is in line with the agreements we made in 2021, when the Dutch Lottery acquired a majority stake. I look back with pride on what we have built together and am confident that the platform will continue to grow under this new owner. This way, Lotify can help even more organizations generate additional funding.”
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Andrew Brown CEO Goma Gaming
EveryMatrix acquires Goma Gaming to boost front-end development firepower
Reading Time: 2 minutes
EveryMatrix has acquired UX specialist Goma Gaming to boost the Group’s front-end development firepower.
Specialising in delivering innovative front-end solutions for the betting industry, the Goma Gaming team bring 20 years consumer product design and digital UX experience.
The acquisition will instantly enhance EveryMatrix’s existing front-end capabilities with experience from both sports betting and casino projects that have included delivering bespoke solutions for tier-1 brands.
The Goma team will continue to operate as a standalone unit, side-by-side with the existing EveryMatrix front-end division.
Its capacity will be upscaled to provide additional bandwidth and capabilities to the Group’s sports and casino products with the objective of delivering superior customer experience and even more alternatives for EveryMatrix clients.
Goma Gaming’s UX player experience platform has delivered strong results for tier-1 operators, generating higher retention and longer engagement with an average 30% margin uplift, while adding enhanced functionality for next generation players.
Ebbe Groes, Group CEO & Co-founder EveryMatrix, said: “Our front-end development has made huge strides, creating bespoke sites and features for some of our largest customers such as Bet-at-home and the Hungarian Lottery.
“The addition of Goma means we will immediately have more front-end firepower to deploy and deliver to both existing and new sports and casino turnkey customers who require differentiation that moves the dial when it comes to higher retention, engagement, margin and revenues.”
“I’d like to welcome Andrew and his team and look forward to having them with us to further accelerate our rapid business growth.”
Andrew Brown, CEO, Goma Gaming, said: “We’ve made great progress developing Goma in the last five years, but joining the EveryMatrix Group now means we have greater resources to rapidly scale our capacity whenever it’s needed and to make an even bigger impact.
“Thank you to everyone who has supported us along the way and enabled us to get us to this stage. We can’t wait for the next phase of our journey as part of EveryMatrix.”
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