Juroszek family takes controlling stake in GiG after buying SkyCity shares
The family now owns 33,722,302 shares in GiG, equivalent to 25.06% – continuing their long-standing involvement with the company ahead of its Q3 split
The Juroszek family has acquired SkyCity’s shares in Gaming Innovation Group (GiG), giving them a controlling 25.06% stake in the company.
The deal sees the Juroszeks take SkyCity’s 10% stake in GiG, which was first purchased in April 2022 for €25m.
GiG board member Mateusz Juroszek’s MJ Foundation FR has purchased 6,069,375 shares for SEK164m, as well as an additional 1,348,750 shares for SEK36.4m (£2.74m) through another Juroszek family-owned company, Betplay Capital Foundation.
The MJ Foundation alone holds around 8.2% of the total registered share capital and voting rights in GiG.
Mateusz’s father, Zbigniew Juroszek, also purchased 6,069,375 shares for SEK164m via the ZJ Foundation, taking the Juroszek family’s total shares up to 33,722,302.
The share accumulation comes ahead of GiG’s split into two separate companies in Q3.
Mateusz Juroszek said: “GiG is one of the most attractive and interesting igaming companies on the public market. My family’s involvement in Gaming Innovation Group has been long standing and long term.
“We see great potential in this company and in the industries in which it operates.
“As a family we should be the ones to stand up and show our commitment – we want to be the biggest shareholders as we believe in the businesses,” he added.
The family initially became GiG’s largest shareholders back in July 2023 after purchasing 1,324,145 shares.
Mateusz Juroszek, the former CEO of Polish local hero STS, also detailed how his family will be involved with GiG moving forward.
“We are present in the company’s top management – I sit in the board of directors of the future media part of business, Gentoo Media. My brother, Tomasz, is a member of the board of directors of the future Sportsbook and Platform company,” he explained.
SkyCity intends to use the proceeds from the sale, which the firm said would be NZ$55m (£26.6m) after brokerage and legal costs, to help pay off some debt as part of its ongoing approach to capital management.
In a statement, SkyCity said: “SkyCity continues to have a valuable relationship with GiG through its involvement with the SkyCity Online Casino.
“However, SkyCity has decided to divest its shareholding in GiG as it is non-core to its ongoing operations, and is now not considered strategically necessary for SkyCity.”
The casino giant acquired its initial shareholding in the Malta-based business for €25m in April 2022, with the exit amounting to around €31.4m in comparison.
GiG recently reissued SEK100m worth of shares earlier this month in preparation for its upcoming split from its parent company.
The company’s media arm GiG Media rebranded to Gentoo Media last week as part of the split.