Sports betting and gaming group Entain announced on Wednesday that its Entain CEE subsidiary has completed its EUR 920 million ($949 million) acquisition of Croatian gaming and sportsbook operator SuperSport Group.
The London-based firm said SuperSport holds around 50% market share in the regulated Croatian market. “Its unrivaled brand and online focused sports betting, as well as iGaming offer, is underpinned by its proprietary technology solution,” the company wrote in a statement.
Previously, Entain had partnered with EMMA Capital, an investment firm operating in the Central & Eastern European region, to establish Entain CEE, a strategic platform to drive expansion in the market, through which the deal was completed.
Entain Chief Executive Officer Jette Nygaard-Anderson said: “We are very pleased to have completed the acquisition of SuperSport, which is the first by the newly created Entain CEE.”
“SuperSport expands our operations into the highly attractive and regulated Croatian market, as well as establishing Entain CEE as a strategic growth platform into the wider region,” Nygaard-Anderson added.
In August, Entain announced that it would buy a 75% stake in SuperSport. It agreed to pay EUR 600 million ($619 million) at completion and a further EUR 90 million ($92.8 million) based on SuperSport’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for 2022.
For the six months that ended on June 30, the Ladbrokes and Coral owner had posted revenue of GBP 2.09 billion ($2.49 billion), up 19% year-on-year from GBP 1.77 billion ($2.11 billion). Pretax profit, however, tumbled by 70% to GBP 39.5 million ($47.2 million) from GBP 130.6 million ($156.2 million). Shares were up 0.2% at 1,368.00 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.
Back in October, its report for the third quarter of the year showed net gaming revenue rose 2% but remained flat on a constant-currency basis. The company said the performance was “in line with expectations,” while it now hopes the soccer World Cup will help improve its fourth-quarter performance.
The company noted strong momentum into the NFL season for BetMGM, its joint venture with MGM Resort. The brand continued to “perform strongly” with a 25% market share where it operates excluding New York, according to the group. The NFL season start drove Q3 net gaming revenue of just over $400 million, up 90% YoY, with same-state revenues up 50% from the same period in 2021.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2022/11/23/65141-entain-completes-acquisition-of-croatian-sportsbook-operator-supersport-group-for–949m
