Exclusive: News International negotiating to acquire Racing Post
News Int'l-RP M&A: price remains an issue, results round up, news shorts
Hello, on Gaming&Co today:
Exclusive: News International in negotiations to acquire Racing Post.
Results: Partouche, OPAP, IGT.
New bet types authorised and refused by ANJ.
News shorts: KSA, EU’s e-ID impact on operators, BetMGM app crash, PokerListings sold.
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Exclusive: News International in talks to acquire Racing Post
Acquisition of Racing Post would enable Sun and Times publisher to make further inroads into online sports betting space, but asking price considered to be too high.
First to the Post: News International, the UK publisher of The Sun and The Times, is in negotiations with the owners of the Racing Post over a potential acquisition of the UK’s horse racing bible, Gaming&Co can reveal.
The Racing Post is part of the UK affiliate publisher and betting content provider Spotlight Sports Group, which is owned by Exponent Private Equity group.
Early talks valued the Racing Post at close to £300m, but although News International is keen on agreeing a deal, Gaming&Co understands that it considers the figure to be much too high and is working to acquire the title for under £200m.
Long-term goal: Taking over the Post would fit into News International’s long-standing ambition to make further inroads into the online betting and gaming space.
When the Sun goes down: The group has attempted a number of forays into UK online betting in recent years, most notably when it launched the Sunbets website in partnership with the Australian giant Tabcorp in 2016. The site closed two years later with Tabcorp having to pay nearly £40m in compensation to the publisher.
News International still runs Sun-branded bingo and slots sites, but on the publishing side it has had more success following an affiliate model and drives a substantial chunk of its UK revenues from affiliate traffic derived from its Dream Team fantasy football and Sun Racing websites.
Sheik it up: The Racing Post launched in 1986 and has had different owners over the years, including Trinity Mirror (now Reach), the publisher of the Daily Mirror. The ownership of the Racing Post name is held in perpetuity by its founder, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai, one of the world’s leading racehorse owners.
Affiliate transformation: Exponent has owned the title since 2016 and has been credited with expanding its reach and that of Spotlight as a whole by focusing on digital output and turning the Post into a super-affiliate. Spotlight also owns the affiliate sites Free Super Tips, MyRacing, the US-focused Pickswise and the betting content provider Superfeed.
Spotlight’s most recent accounts showed that its 2022 revenues were up 9% to £83.5m and adj. EBITDA was down 14.5% to £17.6m, while consolidated losses were up 21% to £27m.
The group has a liability of £114.4m, which it said was due to accrued interest and goodwill amortisation. “This does not adversely affect the going concern assumption given that in January 2023 the group secured financing through to 2030,” it added.
A sale of the Racing Post would fit into Exponent’s broader plans to sell SSG. In 2021 news emerged that it had hired the investment bank PJT Partners to handle a £500m sale of the whole group. At the time super-affiliate Better Collective was a strong favourite to take over, but the transaction failed to materialise.
News International and Spotlight Sports Group did not reply to Gaming&Co’s enquiries.
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Partouche launches new JV, Q1 revenues flat
French casino group announces new venture with new venues in central Paris and Cannes.
Good company venture: Groupe Partouche’s revenues rose just over €1m YoY to €173m in Q1 as France’s group second largest casino operator announced a new partnership with Group Bonne Compagnie, a hospitality and entertainment provider that runs seven venues around Montpellier in the south of France.
The new venture, called Must Group, will provide a “unique” hospitality and entertainment experience. As part of the project it has acquired a restaurant in the 8th arrondissement of Paris and will restore a beachfront restaurant in Cannes.
At nearly €154m, France accounted for the majority of Partouche’s revenues, slots revenue was up 1.4% to €121m but table games were down 5.2% to €32.5m. Net revenues were up 1.4% to €98m and the group will propose to pay a €3m or (€0.32 cents per share) dividend at its annual general meeting set for 20 March.
Outside of France, gross revenues were up 7.3% to €19.4m with its online activities in Switzerland growing nearly 53%. The group is also set to launch an online casino un Belgium with the land-resort in Middelkerke.
New bet types green-lighted by ANJ
France’s Autorité Nationale des Jeux has authorised bets on men's Moto GP "sprint races" and on the "Arkema D1 Playoff", the finals of women's top football league and on the semi-finals and final of the women's Coupe de France.
It has also agreed to trade body AFJEL's request to authorise football bets on "shots on target per team", "shots per team" and "assists per player", but not on "shots per player", "shots on target per player" and "corners per team".
OPAP’s online growth drives 2023 revenues
OPAP’s revenues rose nearly 8% to a record €2bn in 2023 as the group’s online divisions enjoyed strong growth and its retail outlets performed well during the period.
CEO Jan Karas said the results were a demonstration of the group’s “consistent and effective implementation of our business strategy” as its “continuous focus on digitalisation” continued to generate positive returns.
Lottery revenues were up 26% to €730m and online casino rose just over 26% to nearly €252m, the group said Q4 had been very productive for the vertical. Sports betting revenues were up 7% to €645.5m but adj. EBITDA was down just under 1% to €730m.
Net profits were down 31% to €408m, the group paid €156m in taxes and was also fined €24.5m by the Hellenic Gaming Commission for abusing its position in the Greek market.
IGT and Everi create B2B giant as revenues rise 2%
IGT’s move to merge its Global Gaming and Play Digital divisions with fintech-gaming provider Everi and spin off the new company will create a “comprehensive and diverse” global enterprise with a value of $6.2bn, the group said as it announced a 2% rise in 2023 revenues to $4.3bn.
The new entity will focus on online and land-based gaming and will trade as IGT, the deal has been approved by both companies’ boards and IGT shareholders will own around 54% of the shares and Everi stockholders the remaining 46%.
The group‘s lottery revenues were down 2.4% to $2.5bn as the €950m sale of its Italian B2C business to Gamenet Group in 2021 filtered through. Without that disposal, revenues would have been up 6%, the group said.
Product sales were up 11.2% to $963m, while Global Gaming revenues increased 9% to $1.6bn and PlayDigital revenues were also up 9% to a record $228m. IGT said it “noted the impact of igaming growth across a range of markets as the main driver behind this increase”.
Net profit was down 43% to $156m but adj. EBITDA was up 7% and reached a record $1.8bn.
News shorts
Michel Groothuizen will succeed René Jansen as the new chair of the Dutch gambling regulator KSA on 1 July. Staying with the KSA, the Dutch football club PEC Zwolle has taken down a life-size image of its club captain on a city building wearing a top with the name of the club’s gambling sponsor, Circus.
The decision came after a warning from the regulator that the move would be in violation of its sponsorship regulations and would be seen as “untargeted advertising for online gambling”.
The European Parliament’s plans to introduce a standardised electronic European Digital Identity (e-ID) to verify citizens’ identities when using online services could have major positive impacts on gambling operators’ KYC procedures.
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) said it represented a “significant milestone” and a “transformative tool” in creating a more secure and inclusive digital environment.
BetMGM’s UK app crashed on the first day of the Cheltenham festival after its ‘bet £10 get £60” promo overloaded its servers.
Affiliate group Acroud has sold the “iconic” poker affiliate PokerListings to Warsaw-based publisher Already Media for an undisclosed sum.
What we’re reading
Framing the narrative: As G&C reported on cannibalisation last week, this CDC Gaming article picked up on how easy it is to interpret statistics to suit one’s narrative.
When you put it like that: Aussie incumbent Tabcorp says country in danger of turning into the UK (but really just wants Ladbrokes off its retail patch).
Calendar
Mar 20: Sportradar, Kindred RG day
Mar 26: Flutter, Bragg Gaming
Contact
Contact Jake Pollard: jake@gamingandco.info to find out more about Gaming&Co.