Aquisitions/Mergers
DoubleDown Interactive Enters into Agreement to Acquire German Social Casino Operator WHOW Games
DoubleDown Interactive, a leading gaming company delivering exceptional player experiences across multiple genres, announced that it has entered into a Share Purchase and Transfer Agreement with Azerion Tech Holding to acquire WHOW Games GmbH, a social casino developer headquartered in Hamburg, Germany.
The initial consideration for 100% ownership interest in WHOW Games is €55 million (approximately $64.7 million). An additional earn-out payment of up to €10 million, payable to Azerion at €5 million annually, is contingent upon WHOW Games meeting certain performance targets during each of the first and second year following the closing date. The acquisition will be financed through DoubleDown’s cash reserves and is expected to close during the third quarter of 2025.
DoubleDown intends to leverage WHOW Games’ proven expertise in the Europe market and partner-driven business model alongside its own operational strength, marketing capabilities and extensive gaming content to pursue growth opportunities in Europe, particularly in Germany. According to research from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming LLC, the European social casino market grew in 2023 and 2024 as compared to the overall market which has entered a mature stage. WHOW Games offers a versatile portfolio of social casino apps with proprietary brands such as MyJackpot and Lounge777 as well as third-party labeled social casino offerings including Merkur24 through strategic licensing agreements with prominent global brick and mortar casino companies.
In Keuk Kim, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, said: “This acquisition marks a significant step toward increasing our competitiveness in the growing German social casino market. Leveraging our combined operational expertise and enhanced scale, we aim to unlock valuable synergies. We are delighted to welcome the WHOW Games team to DoubleDown and look forward to working collaboratively on initiatives to drive growth across the business.”
Giovanni Valerio Valeriota, Chief Executive Officer of WHOW Games, said: “We are excited to begin this new chapter as part of the DoubleDown family. Their deep expertise in gaming makes them a natural fit for WHOW Games, and we believe that this partnership will accelerate our growth and innovation. I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Azerion, whose support and strategic guidance during our time together has been instrumental in shaping WHOW Games into the strong and dynamic company it is today.”
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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
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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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