Zona de Azar UK – Entain Successfully Completes Angstrom Sports Acquisition

Entain is paying an initial £81.0m to acquire Angstrom, as set out in the agreement announced in July. Up to £122.0m in additional contingent payments are due over a three-year period.

The acquisition, Entain says, makes it the only global operator to offer in-house forecasting, analytics, risk and pricing for US sports betting markets. Entain says this will provide players with an improved wagering experience.

Angstrom uses simulation-based predictive modelling to offer both pricing and forecasting capabilities to sportsbook clients. Primarily serving the US market, Angstrom’s offering covers the most popular competitions and leagues in the country.

“We are delighted that Angstrom has joined Entain, enabling us to accelerate development of the Entain platform bringing even more product capabilities in-house,” Entain CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen said.

“Angstrom’s proprietary next-generation capabilities will unlock significant opportunities, particularly for our US sports betting offering through BetMGM. We look forward to working closely with the Angstrom team and are excited to provide our customers with an unrivalled sports betting experience.”

Latest addition to the expanding Entain portfolio

The Angstrom acquisition marks the latest in a series of deals for Entain. In recent times, the operator has completed several deals as part of its ongoing growth strategy.

These include SuperSport in Croatia, acquired by Entain at the back-end of 2022. Entain also recently acquired Polish sportsbook operator STS Holding.

Entain has also signed off on a number of M&A bolt-on deals, with the Angstrom acquisition falling into this category.

In June, Entain completed its purchase of Tiidal Gaming NZ, owner of esports betting developer Sportsflare for CA$13.2m. This meant it added a number of betting products optimised for esports.

This acquisition strengthened Entain’s presence in esports betting and followed the relaunch of Unikrn in December last year.

Earlier this year, Adam Greenblatt, who has led the BetMGM venture since its formation in 2018, spoke to iGB about the importance of tech- and product-focused deals in the industry.

Entain falls short of Q3 expectations

News of the deal will come as a boost to Entain, which last week said it would miss revenue expectations in Q3.

Entain said safer gambling measures, slower growth in key markets and sporting results hindered its Q3 performance. Net gaming revenue growth is now expected to rise by a high single-digit percentage but likely decline by a high single digit percentage on a pro forma basis.

However, the group remains on track to hit full-year EBITDA guidance. EBITDA is still set to amount to between £1.00bn and £1.05bn.

M&A activity heating up

Entain is by no means the only major operator seeking growth through M&A with several other businesses also taking this route.

Other deals announced in recent months include LeoVegas buying Push Gaming and Playtika last week acquiring Innplay Labs.

In the US, Fanatics Betting and Gaming (FBG) has closed on the first eight states in its previously announced acquisition of PointsBet’s US business. Meanwhile, Glitnor Group struck a deal to acquire a 37.5% stake in New Jersey igaming operator PlayStar.

Late last week, news also broke of Playtech opening talks over the potential acquisition of Italian-facing operator SKS365 Malta Holdings.

According to Sky News, sources close to the talks say the deal could be worth between £500.0m and £600.0m. Flutter Entertainment and Italy’s Lottomatica are also said to be interested but neither have commented on the reports.

Edited by: @MaiaDigital www.zonadeazar.com