Livingstone advises Bettertainment GmbH on sale of horse betting operator RaceBets to Betsson AB
Livingstone Düsseldorf’s Consumer sector team has advised the shareholders of Bettertainment GmbH during the negotiations on the sale of their investment in the Malta-based RaceBets International Gaming Ltd. to Betsson AB. Betsson acquires RaceBets from the company’s founders and the German Thoroughbred Racing Association.
The initial acquisition consideration for the business is EUR 34m, payable in cash, which equals an acquisition multiple of 10.1x EBIT. Subject to achieving certain financial and non-financial milestones, a remaining purchase consideration amounting to EUR 6m may be paid. RaceBets was founded in 2005.
By 2007, it was established as the leading horse racing bookmaker in Germany and today operates a leading online horse-betting platform with the broadest offering of horse races worldwide. For the European horse betting market, which is estimated to reach EUR 3.5 billion annual revenue, RaceBets offers a highly competitive product on par with the best UK operators, where customers can bet on more than 250,000 different races yearly. RaceBets’ horse betting product will be added to Betsson’s offering and will benefit all Betsson brands. 75% of RaceBets’ revenue come from locally regulated markets, primarily Germany and the UK, making it a good strategic fit for Betsson.
Betsson AB is a fast-growing company with more than 50 years’ experience in the gaming industry. It was founded 1963 in by Bill Lindwall and Rolf Lundstrom. The company’s core business consists of investing and administering shareholdings in companies that, through partners or by themselves, offer games to end users via the Internet. The Group offers Casino, Sportsbook, Poker, Scratchcards, Bingo and other games. Customers are primarily from the Nordic countries and other parts of Europe. Betsson AB is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.
“Horse racing is important in many of our markets and the key rationale of the acquisition of RaceBets is to enable our subsidiaries to accelerate the launch of a world class horse racing product on all core brands. This will help fuel organic growth in strategic markets such as the UK and Germany,” said Ulrik Bengtsson, CEO and President of Betsson AB.
Ralph Hagelgans, Partner of Livingstone Düsseldorf, commented: “We have known the management of RaceBets since the sale of 40% of their shares to the German Thoroughbred Racing Association. We at Livingstone were pleased that we were able to support the RaceBets team during the negotiations and wish them success in the future under Betsson’s ownership.”
Patrick Byrne, Managing Director of RaceBets, commented: “Livingstone have known us over the last years and therefore knows our company very well. It was important for me to have them on board as trusted advisors in this important step for us as shareholders and the company.”
