Exclusive: Betgenius in talks to acquire Bede Gaming
Combination of two suppliers would give Betgenius a complete in-house gaming and sports platform
Betgenius has held talks with Bede Gaming over the potential acquisition of the online gaming platform provider, EGR understands.
The talks have been ongoing for several months, although were set back by the recent deal between Rank Group and Stride Gaming, which will ultimately see Rank move its online brands off the Bede platform.
The deal is not considered a certainty to happen, with Betgenius understood to have been looking at various options to build out its platform capabilities following its own acquisition by private equity firm Apax Partners last year.
The firm said at the time one of the primary benefits of the takeover was an enlarged war chest for organic and inorganic growth.
The deal would see Bede’s gaming and account management platform merged with the Betgenius sports offering to create a full-service platform.
One analyst suggested an upfront cash valuation for Bede would likely be in the range of £20-25m, although this could rise to up to £45m if the deal included clauses like earnouts.
“An acquisition of Bede would not be surprising,” the analyst said. “The Newcastle-based gaming company has been around for more than seven years and recently has enjoyed excellent traction with new clients, including Rank, Sun International, LeoVegas and Ontario Lottery & Gaming.
“On the other hand, Betgenius have always been lacking a complete in-house gaming solution, and thus it makes sense to acquire a stable platform with core IP for both land-based and online gaming.”
Another analysts noted the good strategic fit but warned that neither platform was fully proven.
Betgenius has one full sportsbook platform client after signing an agreement with Greek operator OPAP in 2017.
The firm had revenues of £53.1m in 2017, according to the most recent financial figures available.
Betgenius and Bede declined to comment.