Lottomatica CEO says bolt-on M&A a possibility in 2025

Lottomatica CEO Guglielmo Angelozzi has not ruled out the idea of the Italian operator pursuing further bolt-on opportunities over the course of 2025. 

Back in May, the exec said that his firm had a “very strong pipeline” of bolt-ons that he viewed as a key strategy for the business. 

Five months down the line, Angelozzi reflected on the deals carried out in 2024 and 2023 as well as how active Lottomatica was regarding market consolidation via bolt-on acquisitions. 

Lottomatica acquired SKS365 for more than €600m this year, and added brands including Betflag to its portfolio in 2023.

Pressed for comment on whether 2025 will follow a similar pattern, the CEO remained coy as he conceded more opportunities for Lottomatica are expected in the new year. 

“Even though it is hard to say at the moment, probably we will have opportunities in 2025, material opportunities,” he said.

“We are focused on delivering the 2024 pipeline, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we also had material opportunities in 2025.” 

Angelozzi revealed that the most likely bolt-on deals will come when Lottomatica looks to bolster its armoury of land-based gaming halls, as well as strengthening its sports betting offering. 

He then analysed the impact that more bolt-on activity, through the acquisition of more retail operations, could have on Lottomatica’s omnichannel model. 

“They are very accretive, but in many cases they also bring a site value, which is going to be more and more material as time goes by on usually online in terms of omnichannel model and cross-sell opportunity,” he continued.

“So that’s the rationale. But yes, we’ve been in active in 2024 and I’m pretty sure there’s going to be material stuff to go through in 2025.

“It’s more on an opportunistic basis if we find some assets which really fit our model, but that’s probably not going to be the main tool for consolidating the market.”

Speaking earlier this year following the release of Lottomatica’s Q1 results, the CEO hinted that the upcoming regulatory change – which will see the cost of an Italian licence fee hit almost €7m – could lead to further market consolidation. 

“Is there any impact coming from the expectation of the new framework of the market? Yes, there is,” he remarked. “We are starting to see that. There is a very solid interest for our proposition to the market.” 

Lottomatica’s Q3 2024 results release outlined a strong performance that saw several key metrics, including revenue, adjusted EBITDA and online market share all rise, the latter of which reached a record high. 

The group’s total online market share currently sits at 29.9%, while the size of Lottomatica’s online growth (24%) is more than double that of the average of the rest of the market (12%) in the year to date. 

Discussing the operator’s showing during both Q3 and the calendar year so far, as well as April’s €639m acquisition of SKS365, Angelozzi added: “We are very pleased with the progress achieved so far this year. Our business has experienced double digit growth and in Q3 our online market share reached an all-time high across all verticals.  

“The integration with SKS365 is advancing at a fast pace and we upgraded the level of synergies we expect to extract.”