Betclic Everest to go public in SPAC merger
Betclic Everest’s owner is targeting a €7bn+ valuation on the Amsterdam Euronext Exchange for new entertainment conglomerate FL Entertainment.
France.- The gambling operator Betclic Everest is to go public in a SPAC merger along with the television business Banijay (Zodiak + Endmol Shine). Together, the two companies will become FL Entertainment.
The owner of the companies, French media mogul Stéphane Courbit, is targeting a €7bn+ valuation on the Amsterdam Euronext Exchange via a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Pegasus BV.
The combined business will specialise in pan-European sports betting via Betclic and television via Banijay. The new business would have combined revenue of €3.5bn and an EBITDA of €61m. The company forecasts revenue of €3.8bn and EBITDA of €645m by the close of 2022. Betclic is expected to be the key growth driver. FL Entertainment said it expects its European online betting and gaming offerings to be lucrative.
The listing will comprise a cash commitment of €620m in FL Entertainment, with €250m invested by Courbit’s investment fund Financière Lov. Financière Agache and Tikehau Capital have invested €50m and Pegasus itself more than €100m. FL Entertainment aims to find another €250m by widening the scope of its investors after the listing, growing across Europe.
The transaction will provide an equal equity roll-out for minority shareholders, which will comprise Banijay investors Vivendi, Fimalac and De Agostini and Betclic investor SBM International.
Courbit will chair the new company while French banker François Riahi will be CEO. Betclic Group will be led by Nicolas Béraud.
Courbit said: “Achieving a public listing of FL Entertainment through this partnership with Pegasus Entrepreneurs is a milestone in the history of our group. As a result of the transaction, the group will benefit from a robust balance sheet and will be very well positioned to capture growth in the entertainment industry.”
He added: “FL Entertainment is all about partnership, and I am pleased to welcome Pegasus Entrepreneurs and its sponsors as shareholders to our strengthened partnership with Vivendi, SBM International, Fimalac and De Agostini, our existing shareholders in Banijay Group and Betclic Everest Group who have given us their full support to make FL Entertainment even more powerful.”
In December, Betlic Everest’s Bet-at-home announced it was laying off 65 employees under a restructuring plan after deciding to withdraw its online casino offering from Austria due to legal issues. The company said the plan aimed to “adjust the group’s structure to lower revenues”.
The brand announced in October that it would stop offering online casino in Austria due to lawsuits brought by players seeking to recoup losses from unlicensed operators on the grounds that gambling with the operators was illegal (Allwyn’s Casinos Austria is the only operator licensed to offer online casino in the country).
The company has also seen revenue fall in Germany because of the requirements of the newly regulated market. However, Bet-at-Home said it remained confident in its future growth opportunities.
