Betsson eyes Canadian gains with C$3m Slapshot Media purchase
Malta-headquartered operator agrees minority-share acquisition of localised sports content and marketing start-up
Betsson Group has agreed to acquire a 28% stake in Canadian start-up Slapshot Media at a cost of C$3m (£1.7m).
The deal, agreed by the Betsson Perch Investments AB subsidiary, includes call options to increase its holding in the business up to a 70% majority share for a maximum price of C$25m (£14.4m).
This additional purchase is based on the adoption of online gaming regulations by Canada’s provinces, and Betsson has said the deal aims to position of the business in the emerging Candian market.
“The investment is in line with Betsson’s strategy of partnering locally in order to position itself in locally regulated markets and markets soon to be regulated,” Betsson said.
Based in Vancouver and incorporated in 2019, Slapshot Media specialises in creating localised sports content as well as providing marketing and managed services to the Canadian online gaming market.
Under the terms of the acquisition, Slapshot Media Inc. will work exclusively with Betsson to build the presence of the online operator in the upcoming regulation in the Canadian market.
Addressing the acquisition of shares in the start-up business, Betsson AB CEO Pontus Lindwall hailed the deal as “another step forward” in Betsson’s continued expansion into North America.
“The Canadian market represents a great opportunity for Betsson to increase the share of revenues from regulated markets,” he explained.
“The local know-how and experience that the founders of Slapshot Media Inc possess will position Betsson well on the upcoming regulation of the Canadian market,” Lindwall added.
In July, officials in Ontario introduced the first licensing regime for online gambling in Canada, a regime which is expected to come into effect in 2022.
The province’s first igaming operator, iGaming Ontario, has been created as a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), which regulates igaming and caters exclusively to players in Ontario, which is Canada’s largest province by population with more than six million inhabitants.
Other Canadian provinces are set to follow, but the Ontario market alone is estimated to reach C$1bn (£578m) in size by the end of 2022.