Cherry acquires 49% stake in Web Resorts
Operator to pay up to 4.3m for stake in the Curacao-based online gaming company
Swedish operator Cherry has taken a 49% shareholding in online gaming company Web Resorts for a fee which could rise to 4.3m.
The deal will see Cherry pay a cash consideration of 3.3m for its stake in the business, as well as a performance-based purchase price of up to 1m, which the operator predicts will contribute 1m annually to its revenue and EBIT.
Cherry CEO Emil Sunvisson said he was confident the acquisition of Web Resorts, which owns a number of online casino domains such as NordicSlots.com and NorgesSpill.com, would help the operator position itself for future growth.
“We are very happy to announce the acquisition in Web Resorts, which offers leading online casinos for mobiles and computers,” he said. “The acquisition will have a very positive impact on Cherry Ìs results. I also believe that the prospects to further grow the business are good.”
The news follows the release of Cherry’s Q3 financial results earlier this week which saw the operator record a loss of SEK11.9m after a near 100% rise in marketing costs.
In February Cherry announced the sale of three online casino sites – SverigeAutomaten, NorgesAutomaten and DanmarksAutomaten – to Betsson for an initial SEK225m (£23m), while simultaneously acquiring the CherryCasino.com business from the Stockholm-listed operator.
Cherry launched its own online arm, PlayCherry, in 2008 before migrating its players to the Maltese-licensed EuroSlots brand following the closure of Entraction poker network which hosted some of its casino software.