The trend for mergers and acquisitions in iGaming shows no sign of slowing down.
The slots and ‘iLottery’ outfit NeoGames have sent a €410 million offer (around €342 million) for Aspire Global, the casino platform specialist.
It has been reported that the board of Aspire have recommended that the bid, which values the firm at €11 per share, should be accepted by shareholders. The firm is majority owned by a single group of investors that holds equity of around 67% – their decision will prove decisive.
Aspire basically provide the building blocks upon which any online casino or iGaming outfit can thrive. That includes operating software, customer support provision, payment processing and more besides, with their rollcall of clients including the casino platform Karamba. Crucially, they would be able to tap into NeoGames’ existing presence in the US, which is likely to be the key iGaming battleground in 2022 and beyond.
NeoGames, meanwhile, specialise in lottery provision and ‘instant’ games, the likes of which are available at many a casino site around the globe. Some of their most popular titles include Pirate’s Quest, Enchanted Winnings and Cash Avenue, and they signalled their intent to become a major player in the lotteries space when they penned a deal with European powerhouse Sisal in December.
Should the deal be green lit, it is likely to go ahead in the first half of 2022 subject to regulatory approval.
Synergised Success
The plan is for the two firms to combine to create a more powerful B2B and B2C presence in iGaming, continuing to operate as two separate entities. The new-look group would be led by NeoGames’ current chief executive Moti Malul and Aspire Global CEO Tsachi Maimon, who is expected to take on the role of president.
Happily, it’s not expected that any job losses will be lost in the process.
“NeoGames is expecting it will experience employee growth over time, and is not anticipating significant redundancies in personnel. NeoGames plans to maintain separate business lines across products much as it is currently organized,” a statement from the firm read.
Malul was looking forward to the deal going through.
“We are thrilled to announce this highly strategic transaction. Our objective in combining our two companies is to create a leading global provider in interactive content, proprietary technology and operations across all elements of iLottery, online sports betting and iGaming verticals,” he said.
“We are confident this transaction will grow shareholder value and we consider the more than 30% accretion in the nine-month historical pro forma combined adjusted earnings before taxes a good first financial indicator of the potential of a combination.”
Maimon added:
“In recent years Aspire Global has had an amazing journey. We have seen substantial organic growth supplemented by value creating acquisitions. This transaction is the natural next step for our company, as we further enhance our scale and competitive p osition across all business lines.”
Clues that NeoGames were plotting a major move were revealed by Yahoo Finance last week, when they reported that the firm featured prominently among the hedge funds of a number of significant US-based equity groups.