Australia’s BetMakers Completes Acquisition of Sportech’s Global Tote Division

BetMakers Technology Group, the race betting operator and technology provider from Australia, has finally pushed their acquisition of Sportech’s Global Tote business over the line.

The deal between the two companies was agreed in December 2020, when the Sportech shareholders voted in favour of selling their racing, tote and digital business to BetMakers for around 42 million U.S. dollars.

Now the agreement has passed all regulatory hurdles, making BetMakers the new owner of Sportech’s Global Tote business, which is a well-known provider of pari-mutuel technology and services to horse race betting operators all around the world.

The sale includes Sportech’s racing, tote and digital assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. Moreover, BetMakers will also take control of the Americas Tote business, which supplies betting solutions and operational services to more than 200 casinos, racetracks, and bookmakers.

The Australian company will also become the new owner of Sportech’s white label digital betting solutions business, which was designed with the North-American market in mind. This digital betting business already has more than 25 customers on the continent and will help BetMakers accelerate its expansion into the United States.

Todd Buckingham, the managing director of BetMakers, revealed that the completion of this much-anticipated deal puts his company in the perfect position to “continue to execute the next stages” of its global strategy.

“BetMakers views this acquisition as a pivotal step in seeing the business become the centre of global wagering,” Todd Buckingham added. “We intend to continue to expand in all regions where we see complementary synergies for our business that fits this vision.”

One of these steps could be another acquisition, as earlier this month BetMakers announced it joined the race to buy Tabcorp’s media and wagering division. The initial offer is worth no less than 4 billion Australian dollars, and it competes with rival bids from Apollo Management, a global private equity company, and Entain, a sports betting and gambling giant from the United Kingdom.

The proposal made by BetMakers consists of 1 billion dollars in cash, which would be acquired through debt financing, and a further 3 billion dollars in shares, including a 15% premium to the traded price prior to signing. If the deal goes through under the proposed terms, then the Tabcorp shareholders would become the owners of a combined stake of 65% in BetMakers.

Source: “BetMakers Completes Sportech Acquisition“ . BetMakers ASX announcement. June 18, 2021.