Playtech considers sale of Snaitech to Flutter Entertainment
A deal would create an Italian gambling giant.
UK.- Playtech Plc has confirmed that it is in talks with Flutter Entertainment after media speculation about a potential sale of its Italian gambling business Snaitech. It said it was in ongoing discussions “regarding the potential sale of the Snaitech business for a value that could be about £2 billion”.
Playtech’s board has given Flutter a period of exclusivity to complete due diligence and necessary terms to propose a deal but it has not sanctioned an approach. A statement from the company stressed that “there can be no certainty that any transaction regarding the potential sale of the Snaitech business will ultimately be agreed upon, or as to its terms. Further announcements will be made as and when appropriate”.
Playtech bought a 70 per cent stake in Snaitech for €300m in 2019. The company is now its main B2C business, generating revenue of €950m, some 56 per cent of corporate revenues, last year.
Flutter already has a presence in Italy following its €1.9bn acquisition of the lottery operator Sisal in 2022. Buying Snaitech would mean the merger of the second and third biggest gambling groups in Italy, which is the second biggest gambling market in Europe.
This week, Flutter published its Q2 and H1 results. It has upped its full-year fiscal guidance after the group, now listed on the NYSE, “outperformed all market consensus” in Q2. Revenue was $3.6bn, up 20 per cent year-on-year as the number of average monthly players grew 17 per cent to 14.3 million.
Net profits rose from $64m in Q2 2023 to $297m despite non-cash impacts of $147m on acquired intangibles amortisation charge and a $91m fair value gain on Flutter’s Fox Option liability. Group EBITDA was up 17 per cent at $738m.
Meanwhile, the European Commission (EC) has opened a consultation on the technical rules for Italy’s proposed new framework for the regulation of online gambling. As is standard for legislative amendments in European Union countries, the process will gather feedback on the impact that the new regulations could have.
