Expekt.com founders take majority ownership of Betting Promotion

Swedish sports betting solutions provider Betting Promotion confirmed Tuesday that it has agreed a deal to acquire online gaming technology provider Tain, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atletico Nordic which is led by Expekt.com founders Christian Haupt and Conny Gesar.

The company revealed in August that it had entered into negotiations to merge its operations with Tain, which was already the largest single shareholder in Betting Promotion, having acquired an 18 per cent stake at the end of last year.

In a statement to the NASDA OMX Nordic stock exchange yesterday, Betting Promotion said that it will now acquire Tain by issuing 9,520,065 new Betting Promotion shares to Atletico Nordic, which owns 100 per cent of Stockholm-based Tain and is led by Expekt.com founders Christian Haupt and Conny Gesar.

Atletico Nordic, which sold its Expekt.com online gaming operations to Mangas Gaming (now BetClic Everest) in March 2009, will own approximately 59 per cent of Betting Promotion following completion of the deal.

The deal is equivalent to a purchase price for Tain of approximately SEK44.3m (€5.0m) or SEK4.65 per share, based on the last ten trading days of Betting Promotion’s shares prior to October 21st.

“Tain and Betting Promotion will create a strong, independent full-service supplier that is well positioned to compete in a rapidly maturing gaming industry,” said Christer Fahlstedt, CEO of Tain, which generated revenues of approximately €4.4m in 2012.

Tain is a privately owned B2B business which has been active in the online gaming market for more than twelve years. It offers operators a full range of products through its own online gaming platform, including the Tain Thorium sportsbook.

Through its subsidiaries (Tain Ukraine LCC, Tain Malta LTD, Tain International N.V and WL Services N.V), the company has offices in Stockholm, Ukraine and in Malta, and operates under licenses in Malta, Kahnawake and Curacao.

Betting Promotion said that the acquisition is a “further step” in the strategy adopted by the company’s board of directors, with Tain complementing Betting Promotion’s current product offering.

The company said that there had been discussions between its board, Atletico Nordic and its other principal stakeholders regarding the various options for improving the profitability and development of its business.

The board made the decision to acquire Tain in order to improve the company’s performance and profitability, with the deal expected to contribute to synergies and cost savings and “likely to be perceived as positive by both customers and suppliers.”

Betting Promotion CEO Jonas Ornstein said that the merger will increase the company’s market exposure, provide a broader revenue base, as well as increase the resources and opportunities for cost savings.

The acquisition is subject to approval from shareholders at the company’s Extraordinary General Meeting on Monday November 25th, as well as approval from the relevant gaming authorities.

The new shares are expected to be distributed to Atletico Nordic during Q4 at the end of November or the beginning of December. The acquisition will result in a dilution of 50 per cent of the total number of shares in Betting Promotion.

Shares in Betting Promotion SE (Co. Data) (OMX:BETT) dropped by 8.51 per cent to SEK 4.30 per share in Stockholm yesterday following the announcement and are currently trading at SEK4.32 per share.