Lottomatica, an Italian gaming market operator, has agreed to purchase 100% of the share capital of online and sports betting omnichannel platform SKS365 Malta Holdings Limited (SKS365).
The deal, advised on Lottomatica’s part by financial advisors, Mediobanca, sets SKS365 up as having an enterprise value of €639m ($677.4m). The purchase is expected to be completed in H1 of next year (subject to approvals) and is set to be financed through both cash and new debt.
A bridge debt facility of €500m has already been obtained by Lottomatica.
Lottomatica offers online and in-person betting and gaming across Italy. It is the first Italian operator authorised by the Customs and Monopolies Agency in the gaming market and currently owns over 3,000 betting outlets and over 1,400 gaming rooms.
SKS365 currently hosts 600,000 online users, has a retail network of over 1,000 betting shops and is the owner of subsidiaries including Planetwin365 and PlanetPay365.
The company's market share accounts for 9.6% in iSports and 6.4% in iGaming. Lottomatica estimates that the purchase will result in cash cost synergies of €60m and revenue synergies of at least €5m in the next three years.
On the purchase, Lottomatica CEO, Guglielmo Angelozzi said: “We are excited to welcome to our Group SKS365, a top-performing player in the Italian gaming sector and led by one of the most respected management teams in the industry, under the leadership of Alexander Martin.
“We add to our portfolio strong and complementary brands, PlanetWin365 and PlanetPay365 and we look forward to working with Alexander and the team. We are committed to providing all the support needed in the next phase of growth, leveraging the combined capabilities of the enlarged group.”
