Gaming Realms completes Bear Group sale to River iGaming

Gaming Realms has confirmed the sale of its Bear Group limited B2C business to fellow operator River iGaming plc for £11.5m.

The deal, first announced in February, involved an initial cash sum of £7.35m with a deferred consideration of £1.5m, payable on or before 31 December 2020.

As part of the deal, River iGaming have assumed £2.65m of Bear Group’s existing financial liabilities.

Gaming Realms has confirmed that it will use £3.1m of funds from the consideration to repay existing overdrafts and creditors, while the remaining £4.25m will be used to fund the firms game development and licencing division.

Following the transaction, Gaming Realms has completely withdrawn from the UK real money B2C market as a direct supplier.

Last month, the London-listed business announced it would reduce its employee headcount by up to 60% following completion of the sale of its B2C business. The reductions are part of a wider shift in the firm towards become a purely content production and licencing business.

As a part of the transaction, Gaming Realms has said that its employee headcount will reduce by 50, leading to “a very significant reduction in costs and overheads”.

Gaming Realms CEO Patrick Southon said the completion of the transaction marks “a major step change” for the business allowing it to focus on its higher margin gaming content and licencing businesses.

“With a number of new licensing agreements in the pipeline and a much stronger balance sheet, the Company looks forward to updating the market on further progress in due course,” Southon added.

The Slingo operator has also confirmed it is continuing the review of options to sell or reorganise its social publishing division.