Better Collective acquires Canada Sports Betting in deal worth up to €21.4m
Affiliate giant inks cash-plus-earnout deal ahead of Ontario’s regulated market launch on 4 April
Better Collective has acquired Ontario-based affiliate Canada Sports Betting for a maximum cost of €21.4m (£17.8m).
The Copenhagen-based affiliate will pay an upfront cash amount of €15.9m, as well as a deferred cash payment of €5.5m based on “certain deliverables” being satisfied within a period of three months.
To finance the acquisition and subsequent deals, Better Collective has confirmed the expansion of its credit lines with Denmark’s Nordea Bank to the tune of €100m.
Better Collective has said it expects Canadian business activities will generate revenue in excess of €5m during the financial year 2022.
Canada Sports Betting serves as an affiliate guiding sports fans to betting websites, something it will continue to do post-acquisition.
The acquisition is the latest in Better Collective’s strategy of boosting its US operations through acquisitions, a strategy which has seen the $240m acquisition of Action Network and the €33m deal to take the remaining 40% stake and full ownership of DFS resource RotoGrinders.
“The acquisition of Canada Sports Betting underlines Better Collective’s intention to achieve a leading position as an online sports betting media in Canada,” Better Collective said in a statement.
“This will be enabled by a number of strong product offerings from existing brands, including Action Network and VegasInsider and the newly acquired CSB,” the firm added.
Better Collective CEO Jesper Søgaard lauded the affiliate’s latest addition, coming as it has on the back of strong performance in the US market.
“I am very happy to include Canada Sports Betting in the Better Collective product portfolio,” Søgaard said.
“This acquisition gives us a strong foothold in a Canadian market, which is developing in a very promising direction.
“With these new websites and with support from our established North American business, I believe we can develop these assets to become flagship brands within sports betting in Canada,” he added.
In light of the acquisition, Better Collective has revised its financial targets up from the financial year 2022 targets previously disclosed in its 2021 results, based on potential Canadian performance and “generally strong business performance” in the first months of 2022.
Operational EBITDA has been revised up to approximately €80m from a prior high of €75m, while other targets relating to organic growth and debt leverage remain unchanged.