Lottomatica acquires SKS365 in €639m deal
Milan-listed operator bolsters its arsenal as it confirms transaction will see it sew up more than 28% of the Italian market
Lottomatica has acquired 100% of the share capital of SKS365 in a deal worth €639m.
The transaction will see Lottomatica add one of Italy’s major operators to its portfolio, with the deal valuing SKS365 at 8.7x its full-year 2023 EBITDA pre-synergies.
Lottomatica said the deal would strengthen its online market share in Italy to 28.3% while it is expecting to achieve cash cost synergies of €60m (including capex and cash synergies of €10m) and revenue synergies of at least €5m by 2026.
SKS365 is a privately owned firm which operates the Planetwin365 and PlanetPay365 brands in Italy. The company boasts approximately 600,000 registered online users and a retail network of around 1,000 shops.
Lottomatica reported that SKS365 has an approximate market share of 9.6% for online sports and 6.4% for igaming.
SKS365 is also expected to generate around €74m in EBITDA for full-year 2023, of which 70% is from its online operations.
Lottomatica’s move for SKS365 has seen it pip Playtech and Flutter Entertainment to the post, with the London-listed pair both having reportedly been interested in acquiring the firm.
In fact, Playtech provided a brief market update to confirm it was in M&A discussions, however those have ultimately failed to be fruitful.
Mediobanca acted as financial adviser to Lottomatica in the transaction.
Guglielmo Angelozzi, Lottomatica CEO, said: “We are excited to welcome SKS365, a top-performing player in the Italian gaming sector and led by one of the most respected management teams in the industry, under the leadership of Alexander Martin.
“We add to our portfolio strong and complementary brands, Planetwin365 and PlanetPay365, and we look forward to working with Alexander and the team, and we are committed to provide all the support needed in the next phase of growth leveraging the combined capabilities of the enlarged group.”
Alexander Martin, SKS365 CEO, said: “At SKS365 we are proud to become part of the Lottomatica Group. We could not have found a better partner to continue our vision for SKS365 with the brands Planetwin365 and PlanetPay365.
“Many thanks to our shareholders, all employees and partners developing under my leadership a highly successful omnichannel operator with a strong momentum in online sports betting and igaming that is complementing our strong retail network.
“I am thankful to continue to lead the SKS365 team and I am looking forward to working closely with Guglielmo Angelozzi and our new colleagues at Lottomatica,” he added.