Gaming Realms offloads UK B2C business for £23m
Brands including Britain’s Got Talent Games and X Factor Games sold to Malta-based River iGaming plc
Gaming Realms has sold a 70% stake in its UK online casino B2C business to Malta-based firm River iGaming plc for £23.1m.
The deal covers several brands including Pocket Fruity, Spin Genie, Britain’s Got Talent Games and X Factor Games.
Gaming Realms will retain a 30% stake in those businesses and has also agreed a five-year B2B platform and content deal with River, worth approximately £1m in annual revenue.
It will also retain Slingo.com and the Slingo brands.
The £23.1m fee includes a minimum of £8.4m, with earn-outs up to £14.7m
“We are delighted to announce this agreement with River iGaming,” said Patrick Southon, CEO of Gaming Realms.
“We believe that this sale will be transformational for Gaming Realms as it will enable us to focus more of our resources on international licensing and the development of new gaming content, placing us in a stronger position to drive further profitable growth in the future.”
Gaming Realms said it would pivot to becoming a B2B business, with its plan to pivot to licensing also showing “early success”.
It added: “With the reduction in funding the B2C business (principally, staff and advertising costs), in the longer term this pivot to a B2B business is expected to result in improved margins.”
The Gaming Realms Board said intends to use the first £4.2m of the sale proceeds for the development of new gaming content and platform enhancements, as well as providing a loan of £0.9m to fund River UK Casino’s marketing budget.
Today’s news comes after Gaming Realms recently reported a maiden full year profit for FY2017 £0.8min adjusted EBITDA, up from a £2m loss in 2016.
Read EGR’s interview with CEO Patrick Southon here.