SNAI and Cogetech strike 225m merger agreement
Deal will boost SNAI's online presence in Italian market with Cogetech parent company Cogemat awarded 38% of shares in new enlarged business
Italian gaming giant SNAI has struck a deal to acquire fellow Italian online and retail operator Cogemat and its subsidiary Cogetech in an agreement worth up to 225m.
SNAI chairman and chief executive Giorgio Sandi said the deal would, among other things, provide a boost to its relatively small digital operation.
“[The transaction] will allow us to create an important integration between stores and betting points of the two companies, as well as to obtain a good business equilibrium between the betting activities and the games machines, with the aim of reaching the best opportunities from the online and mobile channel,” Sandi said.
Cogemat is primarily a land-based VLT and slots-based outfit although it also operates online sports, poker and casino website iziplay.it, as well as a payments services division.
According to SNAI, the payment of newly issued shares in the enlarged SNAI business will equate to 38% of share capital post-capital increase, valuing Cogemat at between 130m and 145m, while the firm currently carries approximately 80m of debt.
SNAI said it hoped the deal would be finalised in September.
News of the agreement came as SNAI also reported a 21% fall in Q1 2015 digital revenues to 4.6m, with the firm saying it had yet to feel the effects of a new website and improvements to its in-play product.
Total revenues for SNAI across the three months ended 31 March amounted to 156.1m.
Last month SNAI announced it had appointed former Paddy Power Italia communications director Alessandro Allara to head up its online business.