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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Allwyn International AG
Allwyn Completes Successful Syndication of Acquisition Financing for PrizePicks
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Allwyn International AG announced the successful syndication of a USD 1.5 billion financing for the acquisition of PrizePicks.
The financing comprises a seven-year Term Loan B facility in the principal amount of USD 1000 million, with Allwyn Entertainment Financing (US) LLC as borrower, and a six-year Term Loan A facility with a syndicate of banks in the principal amount of USD 500 million.
The new USD term loan B facility will bear interest at SOFR plus 250bps. Both the new term loan facilities will rank pari passu with the existing debt of Allwyn International AG, Allwyn Entertainment Financing (UK) Plc and Allwyn Entertainment Financing (US) LLC, under the existing intercreditor agreement.
Proceeds from the new facilities, together with cash on balance sheet and facilities already in place, will be used to finance the planned acquisition of PrizePicks and related fees and expenses. On 22 September 2025, Allwyn announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire approximately 62.3% of PrizePicks, the largest daily fantasy sports operator in North America. The initial cash consideration is USD 1.6 billion, subject to customary post-closing adjustments and based on an expectation of nil cash and nil debt at closing. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions, including notifications to and/or approvals from applicable regulatory authorities.
Kenneth Morton, CFO of Allwyn, said: “I am very pleased to have successfully syndicated our largest offering to date in the USD institutional term loan B market, demonstrating continued investor support for the Allwyn credit and confidence in our outlook.
“We are looking forward to the closing of the planned PrizePicks acquisition, an exciting step in our growth strategy and expansion of our footprint in the US market.”
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Aquisitions/Mergers
Sportradar Announces Close of Acquisition of IMG ARENA and Its Strategic Portfolio of Global Sports Betting Rights
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Acquisition to Accelerate Revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, and Free Cash Flow Growth and will be Accretive to Adjusted EBITDA Margins and Free Cash Flow Conversion
Sportradar Group AG today announced it has completed its acquisition of IMG ARENA and its global sports betting rights portfolio from Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. and OB Global Holdings, LLC. The closing marks a milestone in Sportradar’s growth strategy, further strengthening and differentiating its position as a leading technology and content provider in the most bet upon global sports, including soccer, tennis and basketball.
The acquired portfolio encompasses strategic relationships with more than 70 rightsholders, delivering approximately 38,000 official data events and 29,000 streaming events across 14 global sports on six continents. With this, Sportradar sports coverage totals more than 1 million matches annually.
The acquisition enhances the Company’s content distribution and will further fuel product development. Sportradar expects to seamlessly integrate and monetize these rights across its highly scalable technology platform and client network.
Given the unique transaction structure, the acquisition is expected to be accretive to Sportradar’s adjusted EBITDA margins and free cash flow conversion while accelerating the Company’s robust revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow growth. Sportradar is not required to provide any financial consideration as part of the acquisition. Instead, the deal includes total financial consideration to Sportradar of $225 million comprised of approximately $122 million in cash prepayments by the seller to certain sports rightsholders and approximately $103 million to Sportradar. The payments to Sportradar, which are subject to customary purchase price adjustments, will be made over a two-year period.
Carsten Koerl, Chief Executive Officer of Sportradar, stated: “We are pleased to complete the acquisition of IMG ARENA. This marks a significant milestone for Sportradar expanding our access to premium sports content that strengthens and complements our already robust global portfolio and capabilities. With this, we are uniquely positioned to deliver even more immersive, data rich experiences to our clients, partners and fans around the world while accelerating innovation at scale across the global sports ecosystem.”
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Aquisitions/Mergers
Banijay Group Reinforces Leadership in Sports Betting and Online Gaming with the Acquisition of a Majority Stake in Tipico Group
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Banijay Group, the Entertainment powerhouse, has signed a binding agreement with CVC and Tipico’s founders to combine Betclic and Tipico groups, becoming the majority shareholder of the combined entity, and creating a European champion in sports betting and online gaming. Banijay Group will buy the major stake of CVC in Tipico in cash, and all shareholders of Betclic and Tipico, including the respective founders, will become shareholders of the combined entity.
With the addition of Tipico Group, leader in sports betting and online gaming in Germany and Austria, Banijay Group would bring, on a pro forma basis, its revenue to €6.4bn and its adjusted EBITDA to €1.4bn in 2024.
Banijay Group’s gaming activity – Banijay Gaming – which would double in revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash-flow and regroup three strong brands: Betclic, Tipico and Admiral – generated €3.0bn in revenues, €854m in Adjusted EBITDA and €716m in Adjusted free cash flow in 2024, on a pro forma basis. Together, they serve almost 6.5m unique active players annually, operate more than 1250 betting shops in Germany and Austria and employ 5300 employees.
Betclic and Tipico are two complementary local champions with leading positions in six highly attractive and fully regulated markets (Germany, France, Portugal, Austria, Poland and Côte d’Ivoire) thanks to strong tech and product expertise, joining forces to become the fourth largest European sports betting and gaming player and the leader of sports betting in Continental Europe.
Combining Betclic’s recognised digital expertise with Tipico’s omnichannel offer would broaden the Group’s capabilities across all distribution channels, strengthening its strategic positioning and enabling a seamless and differentiated customer experience.
Through this transaction, Banijay Gaming would bring together two leading operators of similar scale with shared values, backed by highly experienced management teams. In the current deal, the Enterprise values agreed by the parties for Betclic and Tipico groups amount to €4.8bn and €4.6bn respectively.
Banijay Group will be the controlling shareholder with 65% of the capital at closing, aiming to reach a minimum of 72% in the target structure through call options agreed on the shares held by CVC and the managers of Tipico. The founders of both Betclic and Tipico will remain long-term shareholders in Banijay Gaming alongside Banijay Group, resulting from their full roll-out into Banijay Gaming, reflecting a long-term partnership and full alignment on future value creation.
As of January 1 2026, Nicolas Béraud, Betclic CEO, will become Chairman of the Board of Banijay Gaming, while Lov Group Invest will continue as President. Julien Brun, currently COO of Betclic, will succeed Nicolas Béraud as Betclic CEO. After completion of the transaction, Joachim Baca, Chairman and former CEO of Tipico, will become Vice-Chairman of the Board of Banijay Gaming, while Axel Hefer, CEO of Tipico, will remain in his current role.
The transaction will be fully backed by a certain funds financing package for a principal amount equal to approximately €3bn, including the refinancing of Tipico Group’s existing debt, underwritten by certain of Betclic’s main financing partners. Banijay Group’s post-transaction leverage is expected at 3.5x, with a reduction below 2.5x within three years after closing, driven by strong cash-flow generation supporting both deleveraging and increasing stake into Banijay Gaming (72% ownership minimum in the target structure). Excluding the exercise of call options, deleveraging is expected to be around 0.5x per year.
Completion of the transaction is expected in mid-2026, following satisfaction of customary conditions precedent, in particular merger control and gambling regulatory approvals.
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