Playtech has agreed to sell its Italian sports betting and gaming company, Snaitech, to Flutter Entertainment for a total enterprise value of €2.3bn ($2.56bn).
The deal represents a significant return for Playtech, which acquired Snaitech in 2018 for €846m ($941.45m).
The sale price of £6.27 ($8.28) per share represents a 16.5% premium of Playtech’s previous share price of £5.38 ($7.11). This is nearly a threefold return on Playtech’s original investment. The sale is valued at 9x Snaitech’s EBITDA for 2023.
Snaitech, under Playtech’s ownership, saw its adjusted EBITDA nearly double from €136m in 2017 to €256m in 2023. Playtech helped Snaitech expand its online market share and strengthened its retail presence as a leading player in the Italian gaming market.
Playtech planned to return £1.7-£1.8bn to shareholders through a special dividend, which could range between £4.56 and £4.83 per share. A sum that exceeded Playtech’s share price at the beginning of 2024.
The sale would further help strengthen Playtech’s focus on its core B2B business in growing markets in the Americas and Europe.
For Flutter, this adds to last week's acquisition of NSX Group in Brazil, while also strengthening its existing presence in Italy – it owns lottery firm Sisal.
Share prices of both Playtech and Flutter have remained steady but it is still early following the announcement, at the time of writing.
