Playtech buys Mobenga for up to 23.8m
Software giant tightens grip on its industry dominance with the purchase of leading mobile sports betting provider.
Playtech has agreed terms to acquire highly-regarded mobile sportsbook specialist Mobenga for an initial cash fee of 8m with the deal rising to as much as 23.8m by 2013, giving the software company a dominant grip on almost every facet of egaming.
Mobenga currently provides 14 of the UK, Ireland and Europe’s best known sports betting operators including Paddy Power, Betclic and Stan James with mobile services, with Mor Weizer, chief executive of Playtech, telling eGaming Review the business had a further 10 deals signed and ready to be announced later this year.
Weizer claimed the industry had been “missing an opportunity” in the last few years to integrate both mobile gaming and mobile sports betting and that the acquisition would allow it to become not only the first and leading, but also the only provider to offer a “complete solution” to mobile sports betting and gaming.
“Today, if you go to one of the bookmakers and you want to use your mobile for sports betting and then you want to play a slot or spin the wheel of a roulette you have to come out of the application. The ability to integrate a complete solution that includes both sports and gaming is a real opportunity for various operators in the market,” he said.
“We realised the industry does not have a good answer for a complete solution that is fully integrated. Most players come through sports and then play games, and today mobile sports betting is totally separate from gaming. For the first time Playtech will not only become the leader in mobile but will be the only company that has a complete solution that includes both mobile sports betting and gaming.
“In the past people talked about mobile happening in two years, but something big has happened in the last year. If you review the public statements of a number of operators mobile is growing rapidly, some have even indicated that more than 30% of new users are generated through mobile,” he added.
Mobenga has developed mobile sports betting platforms on handheld devices, including smart phones and tablets, across Apple iOS, Android and HTML. The consideration for the acquisition comprises an initial amount of 8m in cash subject to final working capital adjustments, and further consideration based on a six-times multiple of the profit before tax of the business in 2013, capped at 15.8m.
“We’ll maintain all existing licensees and create cross selling opportunities for them because we believe there is a real opportunity that is currently being missed to offer a fully integrated mobile gaming solution, in essence, we will create a killer application for mobile gaming,” Weizer added.
“The fact that today gaming and betting are separated is a missed opportunity. If you combine the two it is a unique capability that, for now at least, only Playtech has.”
The entire Mobenga team, including founder and former CEO of Expect Christian Rajter, will remain on board. Founded at the end of 2005, Mobenga won the Rising Star of the Year award at this year’s eGaming Review B2B awards.
In a statement Playtech said: “With the continued growth in the customer base in 2011 it achieved profitability in Q2 2011 and on the current run rate is expected to be profitable for the full year.”
Rajter added: “I am very excited by the opportunities this deal brings. It will help us take Mobenga to the next level and gives us exposure to the widest possible group of potential licensees. It underpins the future growth of the business and we look forward to being part of the Playtech team and contributing to the development of a leading mobile capability integrated into the market’s leading gaming platform.”