Interactive

The Netherlands – Entain completes BetCity acquisition

By William - 12 January 2023

Entain has completed the acquisition of BetCity, one of the Netherlands’ leading licensed operators in the newly regulated online sports betting and gaming market.

Since its licensing in October 2021, BetCity has continued to deliver strong growth, maintaining approximately 20 per cent of the market.

Jette Nygaard-Andersen, CEO of Entain, commented: “We are pleased to have completed the acquisition of BetCity.

“The combination of BetCity’s local expertise and strong brand, alongside Entain’s global scale and market-leading platform provides customers with an enriched and broader offering of engaging products, fresh content and new experiences.

This transaction further underpins our growth strategy of operating in, and expanding further into, attractive regulated markets. We look forward to working with Melvin and the BetCity team as we execute on the significant opportunities in the Dutch market.”

An initial consideration of €300m (approximately £266m) will be paid on completion. A balancing payment will be paid once BetCity’s financial performance for 2022 is confirmed. A further contingent payment will be paid in early 2024, based on 10x BetCity’s EBITDA for the financial year 2023, less amounts already paid out.

In addition, a final contingent payment of €50m (approximately £44m) will be paid on delivery of synergies and successful migration to the Entain Platform. The total consideration payable, on current expectations, is €450m (approximately £399m).

However, dependent on the performance of BetCity, the maximum consideration is capped at €850m (approximately £753m). The combination is expected to deliver approximately €28m (approximately £25m) of cost synergies, predominantly from technology, content and royalty benefits, by the end of 2026.

The initial consideration has been funded from the proceeds of the Group’s re-financing announced in October, as well as existing cash resources.