The Italian operator bought Malta-based SKS365 in a €639m deal.

Italy.- Lottomatica Group has announced that its GBO SpA subsidiary has completed the acquisition of Italy-facing SKS365 Malta Holdings. Announced in November, the €639m deal for 100 per cent of SKS365 Malta’s share capital solidifies Lottomatica’s presence in the Italian market.

SKS365 has a big online presence in Italy with PlanetWin365 and PlanetPay365. It also has around 1,000 retail sports betting points. Lottomatica funded the acquisition through a combination of cash and new debt. It said it will update its 2024 guidance to reflect its forecast for SKS365 as soon as practicable.

Announcing the deal last year, Lottomatica said it hoped to make cost synergies of €60m and revenue synergies of at least €5m by 2026. Playtech had previously been in negotiations to buy the operator.

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Lottomatica results

Meanwhile, Lottomatica Group has reported corporate revenue of €1.63bn for full-year 2023. That’s a rise of 12 per cent year-on-year. Betting volume across online, sports franchise and gaming franchise was €30bn, up 18 per cent. Gross gambling revenue was up 6 per cent at €3.86bn.

The group told investors that its share of the Italian market had grown by 3.7 per cent year-on-year to 21.7 per cent. The online segment performed most strongly, with revenue up by a third at €520.8m. The sports franchise and gaming franchise generated €368m and €743m, up 8 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. Normalised EBITDA was €595m. Net profit reached €215m, up 29 per cent.