Poll: Will Cherry take a bite out of egaming
Have your say on whether its ComeOn deal gives Cherry the potential to move into the top tier of operators
Cherry’s announcement of an ?80m deal to acquire 49% of ComeOn raises the question of whether a new egaming power player is emerging.
The Swedish operator had previously shown its intention to be involved in industry consolidation with the purchase of German-facing casino operator Almor Holdings for ?4.6m in July 2015.
But this deal is far more transformational and with 2015 revenues of ?80m and anticipated 2016 revenues of ?100-120m, ComeOn will eclipse the existing ?39m in 2015 revenues Cherry reported.
And the combined business will take significant market share in the Nordics, where Cherry also operates a large land-based gaming business.
The firm retains the right to acquire the remaining 51% of ComeOn at a later stage, with a ceiling price of ?280m for the full business.
It noted that no redundancies were expected with both businesses growing strongly and said there would be “further investment” in the brands.
But the question is whether this deal has the potential to take Cherry into the Premier League of egaming firms.
On a revenue basis it still lags the major European operators, and at a combined 2015 revenue of around ?120m it’s still some way behind the likes of GVC Holdings, Unibet and Betsson.
But the rate of growth at ComeOn appears to be way ahead of the wider market at 60% last year and potentially 50% in 2016.
If it can maintain this trajectory, and expand into new markets, then could it begin to emerge as a new power player? Have your say on the right hand side of the page.