Zona de Azar UK – Entain Completes Sportsflare Acquisition for U$S 9.9 Million

UK, June 13, 2023 – www.zonadeazar.com Entain has finalized its purchase of Tiidal Gaming NZ, the owner of esports betting developer Sportsflare, for CAD$13.2m (£7.9m/€9.2m/US$9.9m).

By acquiring Sportsflare, Entain will add a range of popular betting products to its offering, specifically optimized for esports.

This includes a bet builder, which Sportsflare claims is the only solution of its kind for esports, as well as micro-markets and a solution for players to bet on their own performance.

Entain closed the deal in March and will acquire all issued and outstanding shares of the supplier.

The purchase price will be retained by Tiidal for 180 days. During this time, Tiidal will have access to the funds to address any working capital adjustments. Tiidal can also access 20% of the funds at any time to cover reasonable costs related to the agreement.

Upon closing the deal, Tiidal granted 2,500,000 restricted share units to its CEO as part of their employment agreement. Additionally, 1,910,700 common shares were issued to Sportsflare personnel.

After these issuances, Tiidal has 87,603,908 issued and outstanding shares.

When the agreement was initially announced, Thomas Hearne, CEO of Tiidal, stated that Sportsflare “will be a great fit with Entain’s strong presence in the industry,” and added that the deal will “maximize value for Tiidal shareholders.”

Entain’s Esports Investments

The completion of this agreement adds to Entain’s recent forays into the esports space.

In December of last year, it relaunched Unikrn, its esports betting brand acquired in October 2021. As part of the deal, Entain acquired Unikrn’s technology and its esports betting platform.

At the time, Entain expressed its intention to roll out Unikrn in other regulated markets.

In March of this year, two weeks after the Tiidal acquisition was announced, Unikrn entered into a multi-year partnership with Blast, another esports entertainment business. This partnership stipulated that Unikrn would be featured in Blast’s event coverage and promotions.

Entain’s M&A Activity

Entain supports its esports plans with investments in disruptive technologies through its innovation hub, Ennovate. The London-based hub is investing £100 million in virtual reality and blockchain solutions, with £40 million allocated to UK businesses.

The core real-money gaming business is expanding through regional acquisitions. Entain is accelerating growth in the Netherlands with BetCity and in the Baltics with Enlabs.

In Eastern Europe, its presence grew through the acquisition of SuperSport in Croatia. The operator is collaborating with Czech investment fund Emma Capital to seek out further deals in the region.

Last week, Entain provided an update on two recent M&A deals – Tab NZ and 365scores. Entain entered into a 25-year partnership with Tab NZ last month, while plans to acquire affiliate 365scores were announced in April.

Edited by: @MaiaDigital www.zonadeazar.com