Better Collective CEO: AceOdds deal is “spot on” for a balanced brand portfolio
Jesper Søgaard confirms site boasts one million visits per month as he hints at further M&A moves to “own the whole range of media”
Better Collective bosses have claimed there are still so-called pure affiliation M&A targets available to the group after acquiring AceOdds last week as they championed the addition of the asset to the group.
The Danish affiliate giant moved to acquire the UK-based firm last week, which rose to prominence for its betting calculator tool after launching in 2008, in a €42m (£36m) deal.
Speaking on an analyst call following the publication of Better Collective’s Q1 report, CEO Jesper Søgaard delved into the thinking behind the acquisition while insisting more capital could be deployed again soon.
The Dane revealed AceOdds has roughly one million monthly visits and that its addition to the Better Collective portfolio will be key for success in the UK.
He said: “I would not say that it’s the last [pure affiliate acquisition] and I think in general, we have a big pipeline.
“The first time we had a touch point with the former owner of AceOdds was in 2016 and he wasn’t interested in selling. We have this very big pipeline that we constantly work with, and we have a wide range of sports media that we think are relevant in any given market.
“[AceOdds] relates to the more traditional affiliate business where we started out in Better Collective. In a market as big as the UK, we really want to own the whole range of media. This is spot on to the strategy of owning different kinds of media where we know there’s significant demand.”
The AceOdds deal will see Better Collective part with €40m in cash with the remainder to be paid in the affiliate’s shares, for which it has commenced a buy-back programme.
The deal values AceOdds at a 4x EBITDA multiple compared to 11.7x for Playmaker Capital, the Americas-facing media firm Better Collective acquired earlier this year.
When pressed by analysts on what comparisons could be drawn by a 4x deal and one the size of Playmaker Capital, Better Collective CFO Flemming Pedersen explained it was not straightforward to compare the two.
The question came after bosses confirmed that the addition of AceOdds would increase the midpoint of 2024 revenue guidance from €405m to €410m while EBITDA expectations also rose.
On the other hand, following the completion of the Playmaker Capital deal, long-term targets for 2027 were detailed, as opposed to shorter-term gains.
He said: “Clearly, they are very different in nature. [With] Playmaker Capital, we acquired a vast portfolio of sports media across the Americas [where there’s] been almost no monetisation on the performance marketing channel whereas AceOdds is completely the opposite.
“It’s two different assets and thereby very difficult to compare. They are both fulfilling parts of where we want to be, but they’re very different and hence difficult to compare in trading multiples.”