Entain: Completion of the acquisition of BetCity in the Netherlands

Entain plc, the leading global sports betting, gaming and interactive entertainment group, is pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of BetEnt B.V., which trades under the BetCity.nl name.

BetCity is one of the Netherlands’ leading licensed operators in the newly regulated online sports betting and gaming market.  Since its licencing in October 2021, BetCity continues to deliver strong growth, maintaining its established leading share of approximately 20%¹ of this attractive fast-growing market.

Jette Nygaard-Andersen, CEO of Entain, comments:

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“We are pleased to have completed the acquisition of BetCity.  The combination of BetCity’s local expertise and strong brand, alongside Entain’s global scale and market-leading platform provides customers with an enriched and broader offering of engaging products, fresh content and new experiences.

This transaction further underpins our growth strategy of operating in, and expanding further into, attractive regulated markets. We look forward to working with Melvin and the BetCity team as we execute on the significant opportunities in the Dutch market.”

As announced on 14 June 2022, the consideration structure is as follows:

• Initial consideration of €300m (approximately £266m²) paid on completion. A balancing payment will be paid once BetCity’s financial performance for 2022 is confirmed;
• A further contingent payment will be paid in early 2024, based on 10x BetCity’s EBITDA for the financial year 2023, less amounts already paid out;
• In addition, a final contingent payment of €50m (approximately £44m²) will be paid on delivery of synergies and successful migration to the Entain Platform;

The total consideration payable, on current expectations, is €450m (approximately £399m²).  However, dependent on the performance of BetCity, the maximum consideration is capped at €850m (approximately £753m²).  The combination is expected to deliver approximately €28m (approximately £25m²) of cost synergies, predominantly from technology, content and royalty benefits, by the end of 2026.

The initial consideration has been funded from the proceeds of the Group’s re-financing announced on 19 October 2022 and existing cash resources.