Entain CEE to close acquisition of Poland’s STS

Entain CEE’s offer has been accepted by the vast majority of shareholders.

Poland.- Entain CEE has announced that it expects to close its acquisition of Poland’s largest sports betting operator tomorrow (August 24). Its £750m offer for STS has been accepted by investors holding 99.3 per cent of share capital.

STS chief executive Mateusz Juroszek and his father Zbigniew, who hold around 70 per cent, had already signed a binding agreement to accept the offer, which was announced in June. Entain CEE says that STS shareholders representing 155,591,656 STS shares have now agreed to the deal. It will pay PLN24.80 for each STS share.

Entain CEE said STS will begin to de-list from the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, it will instigate “compulsory acquisition proceedings” to acquire the remaining shares. 

The Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection approved Entain CEE’s deal last month. The competition watchdog said it was “satisfied with the conditions” of Entain’s tender to buy the Warsaw-listed group.

UK-listed Entain has a 75 per cent stake in Entain CEE, with the remaining 25 per cent held by Emma Capital. Entain is thus responsible for around £450m of the offer for STS. It has raised £600m in an equity placement and retail offer to shareholders through PrimaryBid. The remaining £150m will go towards future acquisitions.

STS Holdings has reported a 14 per cent rise in Q2 revenue to PLN 298m. Revenue from its Polish operations rose by 26 per cent year-on-year to PLN 170m. It has smaller operations in the UK and Estonia which it is planning to wind up. Stakes were up by 3 per cent to PLN 1.10bn. However, the number of active users fell from 348,00 to 301,000.

Meanwhile, the Juroszek family has increased its shareholding in Gaming Innovation Group (GiG). The family will become the supplier’s largest shareholder with an 11.08 per cent stake.

See also: Entain and SuperBet back down from Športna Loterija bids