Entain buys sports data provider 365scores in £128m deal
Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain reach £128m acquisition deal for Israeli sports data provider 365scores
- Entain has agreed to spend around £120m upfront on 365scores from Tel Aviv
- 365scores provides real-time results and statistics on ten different sports
- According to Data.ai, the Israeli company has more than 15 million active users
Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain has bought sports media group 365scores, its tenth acquisition in the past 18 months.
The FTSE 100 betting giant has agreed to spend $150 million (around £120 million) upfront for the Tel Aviv-based company, plus up to £8 million in contingent payments.
Started by four former members of the Israel Defense Forces in 2012, 365scores provides real-time results and statistics on ten different sports, including football, cricket and tennis, and thousands of competitions for sports fans.
Acquisition: Ladbrokes owner Entain has bought Israeli sports media group 365scores, which provides real-time results and statistics on ten different sports, such as football and cricket
According to analytics platform Data.ai, the company has more than 15 million active users and ranks among the top five most popular scoring apps in the world.
Entain, which also owns the PartyPoker and Foxy Bingo brands, said the transaction would help broaden the interactive content and experiences offered to its customers.
It’s Entain’s second acquisition this year, after it agreed to buy software developer Sportsflare from Tidal Holdings for $13.25 million in March.
Over the past 18 months, the group has launched a wave of acquisitions to expand its territorial reach and diversify its product range.
Last year, Entain paid €600 million (£507 million) to Czech investment firm EMMA Capital, with whom it runs the Entain CEE joint venture, for a majority stake in Zagreb-based SuperSport.
The company also acquired Latvian company Klondaika, Polish sports betting provider Totolotek and Canadian online brand Avid Gaming and agreed to acquire Dutch rival BetCity in a deal that could cost a potential £753 million.
Prior to that, Entain entered the Portuguese market by acquiring the website Bet.pt, and expanded its presence in the Baltic and Scandinavian regions by acquiring online gaming operator Enlabs.
“The sports betting and gaming industry is no stranger to inorganic growth,” said Victoria Scholar, chief investment officer at Interactive Investor.
‘But [the 365scores] bolt-on is something else, pushing Entain into sports media content, underscoring the importance of data when it comes to reaching new audiences.”
Entain itself was the subject of an £8.1bn bid two years ago from MGM Resorts, operator of iconic Las Vegas resorts like the Bellagio and MGM Grand, which it rejected as too low.
Five years ago, the two groups founded BetMGM to take advantage of the legalization of sports betting in several US states.
For the past financial year, BetMGM’s net gaming revenue was up 71 percent, compared to an overall growth of 12 percent for Entain.
The company said it expected the joint venture to generate between $1.8 billion and $2 billion in revenue this year, compared to $1.44 billion in 2022, and to make a positive underlying profit in the second half of the year. period of time.
Hold shares were 0.5 percent higher Wednesday afternoon at 1,260.5 pence. They’ve grown nearly 180 percent in the past three years.