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.

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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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DAZN, the world’s leading sports entertainment platform, has secured the exclusive broadcast rights for the new Super League Basketball (SLB), with all games to be aired for free to audiences worldwide. With the season beginning on Friday 27 September, the agreement grants DAZN comprehensive rights to broadcast the men’s competition globally, including to the domestic UK audience.

DAZN will create a dedicated on-platform environment for Super League Basketball which will house live and on demand content from across the competition. Fans will be able to enjoy action from the league, all of which will be available at no cost.

The deal comes at a pivotal moment in British basketball history, as Super League Basketball recently announced the unification of the elite men’s and women’s leagues under one brand. This unification aims to increase the visibility of basketball in the UK and to worldwide fanbases.

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DAZN’s unparalleled scale and significant basketball audience is uniquely poised to supercharge the growth of SLB. This strategic partnership marks an opportunity for British basketball with the commitment of DAZN, as the exclusive broadcaster, to work collaboratively to find innovative and personalised ways of creating content, engaging fans and reaching new audiences.

Shay Segev, CEO of DAZN Group, said: “We want to use our reach and industry-leading technology to bring these competitions to existing and new audiences, fostering a truly fan-centric global community. Super League Basketball is at a turning point in its history and is a property with exceptional potential for commercial growth – we are delighted to add it to our growing international portfolio of basketball and to join them in building an exciting future. DAZN is rapidly becoming the global Home of Basketball and SLB will form an important part of this.”

Through its agreement with FIBA, which includes Courtside 1891, DAZN also streams live FIBA matches, including FIBA World Cups, as well as all FIBA Continental Cup competitions and U19/U17 World Cups. Users can also watch live and on-demand regional club competitions, such as the Basketball Champions League, the Intercontinental Cup, the EuroLeague Women and the East Asia Super League, as well as national leagues such as, the NBL, the Japanese B. League and others.

Vaughn Millette, interim Chair of Super League Basketball, said: “We are delighted to partner with DAZN for our global broadcast media rights. From our earliest conversations, we’ve been impressed by DAZN’s unwavering passion to promote and grow the sport of basketball. Bringing innovation and imagination to enable us to best serve our fans, the teams and continuous broadcast coverage of the league.

“Over the last few years, DAZN has demonstrated its commitment to growing the sport by securing numerous international basketball rights. SLB’s addition to this line-up, means that fans will find a broadcast home for basketball on DAZN. Super League fans will be able to watch every game live and free to air as we take our place alongside the likes of France and Italy’s elite national basketball leagues. We can’t wait to get started.”

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Through the dedicated Super League Basketball environment on DAZN, content from across the English competitions will be positioned alongside DAZN’s other free offerings, marketed to both its main subscriber base and basketball enthusiasts globally. With a user interface initially available in English, the service will expand to up to seven languages, including Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese and Portuguese in select markets.

iGaming solutions provider joins forces with the technology provider for some of the largest names in the industry.

WA.Technology, the award-winning B2B iGaming solutions provider, is thrilled to announce its strategic acquisition of iGaming development heavyweight, Onseo.

This landmark acquisition marks a new chapter in WA.Technology’s journey as it brings its game production capabilities, sportsbook and platform expertise, and other skills in-house, adding even more strength to the provider’s full spectrum of iGaming solutions which already includes WA.Platform, WA.Sports, WA.Casino, WA.Affiliates, WA.Lottery and WA.Fantasy.

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By strengthening its development expertise, WA.Technology’s will be able to offer operators across its network access to an abundance of cutting-edge capabilities spanning the sports betting, platform, casino and sweepstake verticals, now provided in-house and on-demand.

Onseo has amassed decades of experience in building the technologies that make the gaming space work. During that time, the brand has curated a customer base which features some of the industry’s biggest names.

Onseo’s 700+ strong team of developers will be able to offer WA.Technology’s clients new features, quick turnarounds, and rapid customisation.

Commenting on the acquisition, WA.Technology CEO Tim Scoffham, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Onseo to the WA.Technology family! We have already been a customer of theirs for a while – their ability to deliver high-quality technology quickly truly makes them a force to be reckoned with. Their client base is a clear testament to their quality.

“This acquisition has been in the works for quite some time. It marks an incredibly exciting new chapter for WA.Technology as we now bring huge capacity in-house. Onseo is the perfect addition to our ecosystem; their expertise will allow us to not only upsell our own portfolio of products but will enable us to also deliver new and exciting experiences for our partners around the world.”

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