Earnings+More - Bidding war erupts over PlanetWin365
Bidding war erupts over PlanetWin365Italian bidding battle, Strip dynamics, analysts notes, startup focus – Verse Fantasy +MoreGood morning. On today’s agenda:
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded. Bid battlePlanetWin365 is the subject of a £500m bidding war. Fight, fight, fight: A selection of the biggest listed betting and gaming groups are slugging it out to buy the Italian-facing SKS365, the operator of the PlanetWin online and retail betting operation.
Podium booster: Analysts at Goodbody noted SKS365’s online operation currently controls a mid-single-digit online gaming share and a slightly higher percentage of online sports betting. It also operates ~1k retail outlets.
Everybody knows: During its H1 earnings call, CEO Mor Weizer noted that Playtech had added a “small bolt-on” to the Snai business in the period with the €6m acquisition of Giove and said the company was “considering” more deals.
More bolts than the Golden Shot: Just last week, Flutter announced the acquisition of Serbian bookmakers MaxBet for an initial €141m. Goodbody noted that a deal for SKS365 could also be attractive to Entain, which has been busy with M&A too.
** SPONSOR’S MESSAGE ** EveryMatrix delivers iGaming software, solutions, content and services for casino, sports betting, payments, and affiliate/agent management to 200+ global Tier-1 operators and newer brands. The platform is modular, scalable, and compliant, allowing operators to choose the optimal solution depending on their needs. EveryMatrix empowers clients to unleash bold ideas and deliver outstanding player experiences in regulated markets. Nevada in AugustThe Las Vegas Strip holds its luck in August – but eyes now turn to the hack-affected September. The neighbor of the beast: Strip revenues were up 1% YoY to $667m for August, another record albeit driven mostly by strong VIP hold. Relative to 2019, Strip GGR was up 28%.
Do you remember? After July and August, the QTD uplift sits at 5% but a continuation of the trend will be challenged by the effect of the disruption caused in September by the cyberattack on MGM and Caesars.
Every cloud: The picture is more mixed for the Locals market, which was down 1% in August but was up against the toughest comp of the year. Barring November, these ease in the rest of the year while, as JMP suggested, Golden Entertainment’s Strat and to a lesser extent Red Rock and Boyd could also gain from MGM’s troubles.
Macau’s typhoon effectWinds of change: The super typhoon Saola, which caused major disruption at the start of September, was the main cause of a 13% MoM drop in GGR in the month to $2.1bn. Still, the nine-month figure was over 300% ahead of last year.
Analyst takesEntain: The company may have lowered revenue guidance at the start of last week but the team at Jefferies said investors remain focused on the “dance” between Entain and MGM Resorts over the future of BetMGM.
VICI: Q3 earnings are “expected to be quiet”, suggested the team at JMP who noted that despite closing several transactions over the past three months, including the Rocky Gap Casino, four casinos in Western Canada and a financing transaction with Canyon Ranch, deployment was only $506m.
** SPONSOR’S MESSAGE ** Calling all sportsbooks! Are you:
Stop falling behind your competitors! Matchbook pricing and brokerage service is your connection to the sharpest pricing and global liquidity, helping you to manage risk and fortify your margins. Matchbook pricing is proven to be resistant to market changes. Matchbook B2B, because the best price is for everyone. Find out more at http://www.matchbook.com/promo/b2b or email b2b@matchbook.com Startup focus – Verse FantasyChapter and verse: Verse was formed in 2020 by David Rosen, Jack Gorelick and Daniel Zimmerman, three college friends at Syracuse, New York, who grew their interest in the sector via working as interns at Barstool. Funding backgrounder: The company raised a $860k pre-seed round last fall. The backers include RallyCry Ventures along with private investors. Poetry in motion: The central idea for Verse is that of “self-segmenting and self-servicing” groups of players who are “already banding together” to play in fantasy leagues, says Zimmerman.
Couch to 100k: Alongside Verse’s ‘LeagueSync’ feature, the contest creator tool allows users to build their own custom DFS pools. Users can choose from hundreds of stat combinations, prop types and filters to build exactly the game they want to play.
Maybe a rethink: Speaking ahead of the recent news of Florida’s legal move against three fantasy operators, Zimmerman said Verse operates “where other DFS operators do, so we are particularly interested in California, Florida and Texas”
Growth company newsOmada fund raise: The France-based social prediction mobile game operator has raised €7.1m in seed funding, led by Felix Capital alongside 20VC, Play Ventures, F4, Motier Ventures and a host of angel investors.
SB22: The sports-betting platform challenger announced two deals at the end of September. The first is a tech integration deal with WagerWire that will see the latter’s proprietary marketplace integrated into the SB22 platform.
Micro-betting in LatAm: Sports-betting platform Vibra Solutions and micro-betting provider nVenue have teamed up to offer in-play micro betting in Latin America.
What we’re reading: Business Insider looks at 26 VCs and other investors pouring cash into sports-related sectors, including gambling. What we’re listening to: The Betting Startups podcast talks to Matt Deutsch from Bettor Sports Network. The week aheadTomorrow sees the latest edition of The Startup Month, which takes a look at the theme of disruption within the betting and gaming sector and picks six companies that are doing their bit to upend the sector. Plus, a round-up of Q3 funding rounds. Career pathsBetfred: After nearly 30 years with the company, Mark Stebbings stepped down as group COO last Friday. Betfred has yet to announce any details about his replacement. On LinkedIn Stebbing paid tribute to his “unbelievable mentor”, Betfred founder Fred Done,
Jobseeker: Thomas Winter has announced he is leaving Golden Nugget, the company he helped found in 2010 and which was bought by DraftKings two years ago. He said on LinkedIn, the next stage of his career would be focused on the “latter part of work-life balance”.
** SPONSOR’S MESSAGE ** During the Panthers vs Seahawks game that lasted 3 hours and 6 minutes, Huddle had, altogether, 27 minutes and 58 seconds of suspensions, while the market, on average, had 1 hour and 10 minutes of suspension time. Maintaining top-tier uptime not only enhances the user experience for our clients but also directly contributes to increased customer satisfaction, higher revenue generation, and reducing churn. Explore more: https://huddle.tech/by-the-numbers-huddles-uptime-performance/ NewslinesAustralian Betr (not to be confused with the US Betr) says it will be the long-term winner despite having to payout A$72m ($46.4m) to punters who took up the online bookmaker’s 100-1 offer for Penrith to prevail in the National Rugby League grand final.
Entain has announced the completion of its acquisition of next-gen sports modeling, forecasting and data analytics firm Angstrom Sports for an initial £81m, which could rise to £203m depending on additional contingent payments over the next three years. Inside the tent: Circa Sports has launched in Illinois with its OSB app and a retail sportsbook at Full House Resorts’ Temporary at American Place in Waukegan. Playtika has completed the purchase of the Israeli-based mobile gaming studio Innplay Labs for up to $300m. FDJ has finalized its €175m acquisition of Zeturf. EBET has announced a one for 30 reverse stock split. Calendar
An +More Media publication. For sponsorship inquiries email scott@andmore.media. |
Older messages
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