Superbet takes majority stake in Lucky 7

Superbet Group has increased its stake in the online casino operator as it aims to diversify its business.

Romania.- Superbet Group has acquired a majority stake in online casino operator Lucky 7 to expand its online casino portfolio as it looks to diversity across wider geographical markets.

The group, which made an initial investment in Lucky 7 in its start-up phase early last year, has increased its stake to 60 per cent as it looks to expand beyond its traditionally strong markets of Romania and Poland.

Founded by Dunder co-founder Olof Örn, Magnus Petersson (formerly Expekt) and Karl Ahlberg, Lucky 7 runs several online casino brands in Europe and the Americas and has applied for licences to operate in other regions.

It expects to launch challenger online casino brands in three new European markets within the next year.

It is the first investment venture for Superbet’s current CEO Johnny Hartnett, the former Paddy Power executive who joined the company last August.

Hartnett said: “Lucky 7 is an acquisition that complements our current expertise well and further diversifies the SB Group across multiple geographies.

“Additionally, it significantly boosts our online gaming revenue and brings product and marketing expertise the group will benefit from for years to come.

“I have long been an admirer of Olof and the team from the other businesses they were involved with in the sector. Being able to partner with them to grow together is a great opportunity.”

Lucky 7 CEO, Olof Orn, said: “We have a perfect match here. On the one hand we have Lucky 7, a relatively new but already strong company both in terms of absolute numbers, but also in terms of product, player experience, online casino, and digital marketing expertise.

“On the other hand, there is the Superbet Group known as the best multichannel sports betting operator in the Central and Eastern European region.

“We are already a strong company both in terms of absolute numbers (€17million NGR in Q2), but also in terms of product, player experience, online casino, and digital marketing expertise.”

Superbet Group, which was founded in 2008, is now partly owned by the US private equity group Blackstone following a £175million investment in May last year.