Affiliate XLMedia share price soars on US sports betting acquisition
London-listed affiliate firm seals initial $12m buyout of CBWG Sports and online assets including BetNewJersey domain
Affiliate XLMedia’s share price jumped more than 10% in early trading on December 10 after the firm agreed a major cash plus shares deal in the US to acquire the sports betting and gaming business of CBWG Sports.
Formed in 2020 via a combination of CB Sports and Warwick Gaming, CBWG is a digital media publishing group based in the north east of the US focused on professional and college sports.
The start-up is registered as a sports gaming affiliate in six states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
CBWG owns and operates six sports and gaming assets including PASportsBooks.com, BetNewJersey.com and ActionRush.com.
The business also boasts an agency arm, which partners with sports media brands to drive user acquisition in the regulated betting markets of Colorado, Illinois and Tennessee.
XLMedia will make an upfront payment of $12m in cash and issue 7,954,546 new shares at an aggregate value of $3.5m.
A future consideration of up to an additional $9.5m has also been agreed and will be payable over the next three years, depending on CBWG’s future net revenue performance.
The Jersey-based affiliate estimates the CBWG assets attracted 550,000 site visits per month and generated unaudited 12-month revenue and EBITDA of $4.6m and $2.7m respectively.
XLMedia CEO Stuart Simms has pledged to retain the existing CBWG team, including founders Kyle Scott and Jason Ziernicki.
He said: “It is great to have acquired such an attractive set of assets during an inflection point for the US sports betting market.
“On some estimates, almost 60% of the US population is set to have legal access to sports betting by the end of 2022, and this could include New York, where one of the acquired key assets is focused.”
CBWG Media Group LLC, CB Sports LLC and Warwick Gaming LLC are the selling entities of the acquired business.