Kindred eyes £460m Danske Spil acquisition
Kindred CEO Henrik Tjarnstrom says firm is “ready to invest” and waiting to hear from Danish government
Kindred Group is willing to buy the betting and gaming arm of Danish state-owned operator Danske Spil for up to DKK 4bn (£460m), according to reports in the Danish media.
An article on borsen.dk last week quoted Kindred chief executive Henrik Tjarntrom saying: “We are ready to buy Danske Spil Games. We believe the price is DKK 3-4bn and we are ready to invest. We just need a response from the Danish government.”
A Kindred spokesperson told EGR it had no further comment, but its position on the Danish market was stated clearly in the Borsen article.
A Danske Spil spokesperson said no formal offer had been made and the Government had not announced any plans to sell.
Rumours of a Danske Spil sale have been floating around for years, thanks to the Danish government’s stated policy of selling state-owned businesses that compete directly with private firms.
The recent appointment of a CEO with a background in M&A and no experience in gaming further fuelled speculation.
The Danish finance minister Kristian Jensen told Borsen no decision would be made without a thorough evaluation of the company and the revenues it brings to the government – approximately £80m last year.
Kindred is understood to be interested only in the betting and gaming arm of Danske Spil.
The Swedish operator has been very active in the M&A space, agreeing a deal to acquire 32Red for £176m just last week.