Report: Flutter expected to be among bidders for Italy lottery licence
Operator is rumoured to be preparing an offer that would bolster its presence in the market even further as €2.3bn acquisition of Snaitech is set to close in coming months
Flutter Entertainment has been touted as one of the most likely buyers for Italy’s main lottery licence ahead of Monday’s (17 March) tender deadline.
That is despite mounting concerns from select non-governmental quarters over the prospect of Flutter using the Italian franchise to cross-sell other gambling products, as per a report from The Irish Times.
For companies looking to secure Italy’s main lottery licence, the country’s Customs and Monopolies Agency has placed a minimum bid level of €1bn, though it is reportedly worth €1.5bn, with the current licence set to expire later this year.
At this stage, Flutter has not commented on the reports of its possible intention to enter the bidding process.
However, the operator is widely expected to call upon its presence in the local market to try and secure the licence, namely via its Italian lottery business Sisal, and through partnerships with supplier Scientific Games and private equity firm Brookfield.
Flutter’s chief financial officer Rob Coldrake was reluctant to shed any further light on the topic on a recent analysts call.
“We’re not going to talk about our bidding strategy. It’s commercially sensitive,” he explained. “We will be very disciplined and to the extent that we go ahead, we will put on as good a show as we can.”
Under current regulations, advertising online gambling is banned in Italy, but it’s been reported that Flutter could potentially cross-sell its other products by letting customers scan the back of lottery tickets.
Recently published Morgan Stanley research notes that online consumers are worth 10 times as much to Sisal as land-based players. The prospect of diverting attention to Sisal “would be the primary rationale for additional lottery assets”.
It is a plan that has not evaded the attention of Italy’s National Campaign against the Risks of Gambling, with the group urging whichever company does become the next licence-holder to refrain from cross-selling other gambling services.
Flutter’s presence in the regulated Italian market is set to be strengthened further in the coming months, with the operator’s €2.3bn acquisition of Snaitech expected to be completed by the end of Q2 2025.
Earlier this month, Flutter reported revenue of £10.9bn for full-year 2024, representing a 19% year-on-year increase for the operator.