Stars Group to buy British gambling company Sky Betting & Gaming for $4.7bn

Online gambling industry news : Stars Group, a Canadian online gambling company has agreed to acquire British gambling company Sky Betting & Gaming (SGB) for $4.7 billion from CVC Capital Partners and sports broadcaster Sky in a cash-cum-stock deal.

Stars Group Acquisition of Sky Betting & Gaming

Stars Group acquisition of Sky Betting & Gaming combination is expected to result in the largest publicly listed online gaming company in the world.

The acquisition will give the Canadian online gambling company greater diversification in its revenue and significantly improve its exposure to sports betting as most of Sky Betting & Gaming’s earnings come from this online gaming segment.

Stars Group through the deal also expects to get an expanded footprint across regulated markets, especially in the UK, which is the largest regulated online gaming market in the world.

The Canadian online gambling company says that developing sports betting as a second low-cost customer acquisition channel will complement its core poker business while allowing more effective cross-sell to players in various verticals.

Stars Group to acquire Sky Betting & Gaming. Photo courtesy of StarsGroup.com.

Stars Group also added that the addition of innovative casino and sports book offerings, along with portfolio of well-known mobile apps of Sky Betting & Gaming will result in giving it improved products and technology.

Commenting on Stars Group acquisition of Sky Betting & Gaming, Rafi Ashkenazi, CEO of Stars Group, said: “SBG operates one of the world’s fastest growing sportsbooks and is one of the United Kingdom’s leading gaming providers. SBG’s premier sports betting product is the ideal complement to our industry-leading poker platform.

“The ability to offer two low-cost acquisition channels of this magnitude provides The Stars Group with great growth potential and will significantly increase our ability to create winning moments for our customers.”

Currently, Sky Betting & Gaming makes more than 80% of its revenue from mobile devices. Through its partnership with Sky, Sky Betting & Gaming has developed certain popular online gaming brands like Sky Bet, Sky Casino and Sky Vegas. The British gambling company’s annual revenue in the 12-month period ended December 31, 2017 was £624 million.

Richard Flint – CEO of Sky Betting & Gaming, commenting on Stars Group acquisition of Sky Betting & Gaming, said: “We are delighted to join forces with The Stars Group.

“We have had a fantastic last few years and would like to thank CVC and Sky for supporting us in becoming a leading online operator in the UK. This transaction allows us to offer our best-in-class products to a truly global audience.”

Stars Group acquisition of Sky Betting & Gaming follows the late February deal made by the Canadian online gambling company which agreed to acquire a stake of 62% in Australian online sportsbook operator CrownBet from Crown Resorts for nearly $117.7 million.

In early March, Stars Group agreed to buy an additional stake of 18% in CrownBet for $91 million. Simultaneously, CrownBet struck a deal to acquire William Hill Australia from William Hill for $234 million.

Stars Group acquisition of Sky Betting & Gaming will be subject to receipt of customary approvals from the Toronto Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, and some gaming and other regulatory bodies and meeting of other customary closing conditions.