Esports Ent to sell Bethard for €9.5m

Esports Entertainment Group is selling the online casino and sportsbook brand less than two years after it bought it.

Malta.- Esports Entertainment Group has announced that it has entered a share purchase agreement to sell Bethard. The company bought the online casino and sportsbook brand in its $21m acquisition of Gameday Group in July 2021.

It hasn’t revealed who is buying the brand, but the agreed sale price is €9.5m, consisting of €1.65m in cash and €6.5m from its release from payment of contingent consideration liability. The buyer will take on liabilities of around €1.2m. A cash holdback of €150,000 may be retained if liabilities exceed the amounts agreed in the purchase agreement.

Esports Ent said it expected the sale to close within two weeks from the signing of the purchase agreement on 14 February, subject to closing conditions.

When it bought Bethard, Grant Johnson, Esports Entertainment’s chief executive at the time, said the deal would “substantially increase our revenue and available markets”. However, Esports Ent has run into financial problems. It has already closed the UK businesses of the SportNation and RedZone brands that it obtained in its 2020 acquisition of Argyll.

The company says it intends to focus on the Lucky Dino igaming brands that it runs on its Idefix platform.

Esports Entertainment chief executive Alex Igelman said: “I am very pleased at the work that is being undertaken to reduce debt and focus on our core igaming and esports assets.

“We remain committed to building a world-class esports gambling operation that is global in reach and that provides esports content and strategic services to those involved in esports gambling, as well as those seeking to enter the market. 

“I am extremely encouraged and pleased with the speed and efficiency in which senior management effectuated these important actions.”