Playtech has continued to spend the spare cash resources which the company has raised in order to finance its deals with Plus500 and AvaTrade. The failed acquisitions in the financial trading sector have pushed the company to focus back on its core business which is online gaming.
This morning Playtech announced the acquisition of Best Gaming Technology, a company that is further aiming to enhance Playtech’s omni-channel offering and drive digitalization of retail clients. The deal is worth €138 million and is being financed from Playetch’s existing cash resources.
Best Gaming Technology is headquartered in Vienna, and is providing software solutions for sports betting. The company has a wide variety of clients including, Betfred, Codere, Coral, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power Betfair and William Hill.
Playtech to Deliver a True Omni-Channel Gaming Offering
The portfolio which Playtech acquires will enhance the Playtech ONE suite of white labeling solutions for the gaming sector. The type of the product which Best Gaming Technology is offering is named a self-service betting terminal (SSBT). The solution boasts double the volumes of other providers.
Playtech is acquiring a revenue sharing business model which is based on a revenue share of the gross win margin from each SSBT. At the end of FY2015, BGT delivered about 24,000 SSBTs to licensed operators globally. The number is expected to increase as more products are in the pipeline.
During 2015, the target company generated €41.6 million in revenues which was only from regulated markets.
Over three quarters of the figure come from the SSBT software segment. The adjusted EBITDA of the Vienna headquartered gaming software provider was €12.9 million last year with €12.5 million of adjusted EBITDA in the first six months of 2016.
The 2015 profit before tax of Best Gaming Technology totaled €6.0 million with gross assets amounting to €35.9 million as of December 31st 2015.
Playtech has acquired 90 per cent of the issued share capital of BGT, with the remainder being retained by the founder and CEO of Best Gaming Technologies, Dr. Armin Sageder. He will remain at the company for at least three more years after the completion of the acquisition deal.
Playtech has a call option to purchase the remaining 10 per cent of the company.
Commenting on the announcement, the CEO of Playtech, Mor Weizer, said: “BGT is the leading provider of sports betting software and solutions for gaming and sports betting operators in what is one of the fastest growing verticals of our industry. BGT offers the market’s most sophisticated retail sports solution which is also both modularized and flexible, allowing Playtech to quickly integrate with its own platform.”
“As the only company that will offer FOBTs and SSBTs, all integrated with the world’s leading online platform and products, Playtech will realize the potential of a true omni-channel offering for the benefit of both consumers and operators,” he elaborated.
The CEO of Best Gaming Technology added: “BGT is at an inflection point in its development as we penetrate into new markets whilst upgrading our products at a phenomenal speed. I believe that becoming part of the Playtech family will allow Playtech and BGT to take omni-channel to the next level.”
(Photo: pxfuel)
