BREAKING NEWS: Lottomatica Group acquires SKS365

Lottomatica Group S.p.A. announces that GBO S.p.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Lottomatica, has signed an agreement for the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of SKS365 Malta Holdings Limited (“SKS365”).

SKS365 is a leading omnichannel player in the Italian online and sports betting segments, counting on approximately 600k registered online users, highly recognised brands (“Planetwin365” and “PlanetPay365”) and a retail network of approximately 1,000 sports betting shops. SKS365 has a market share1 of 9.6% in iSports and 6.4% in iGaming and is expected to generate an EBITDA of approximately €74 million in FY2023, of which approximately 70% Online and 30% Sports Franchise.

With this acquisition, Lottomatica strengthens its leadership position in Italy with a proforma Online market share of 28.3%1, enriching its brand portfolio and accelerating its growth profile with a highly synergistic transaction. The Group estimates that it will achieve cash cost synergies of €60m2 and revenue synergies of at least €5m by 2026.

The transaction values SKS365 at an Enterprise Value of €639 million, equivalent to an EV/EBITDA FY2023 of 8.7x pre-synergies and 5.2x post-synergies.

The transaction is expected to complete in H1 2024, subject to customary competition and regulatory approvals, and will be financed with a combination of available cash and new debt, for which Lottomatica has already obtained a bridge debt facility of €500 million. Net leverage at closing3 is estimated to be approximately 2.8x pre-synergies and 2.6x post-synergies.

“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, and we are committed to provide all the support needed in the next phase of growth, leveraging the combined capabilities of the enlarged group”, said Guglielmo Angelozzi, CEO of Lottomatica Group.

“At SKS365 we are proud to become part of the Lottomatica Group. We could not have found a better partner to continue our vision for SKS365 with the brands PlanetWin365 and PlanetPay365. Many thanks to our shareholders, all employees and partners developing under my leadership a highly successful omnichannel operator with a strong momentum in online sports betting and iGaming that is complementing our strong retail network. I am thankful to continue to lead the SKS365 team and I am looking forward to working closely with Guglielmo Angelozzi and our new colleagues at Lottomatica”, said Alexander Martin, CEO of SKS365.

Mediobanca acted as financial advisor to Lottomatica in the transaction.