Entain makes a bid for Olympic Entertainment

Entain is reported to be pursuing a takeover of Olympic Entertainment Group. The UK betting firm is said to have made an indicative cash offer of more than $1bn for the Estonia-based casino operator.

Olympic has operations in countries including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Italy. The company, which was purchased by Novalpina Capital in 2018 for about EUR288m, has grown through acquisitions that helped it expand in markets including Romania and Croatia.

Olypmic operates online gambling under the OlyBet and MaxBet brands and owned more than 100 land-based casinos as of the end of 2020.

Entain’s proposal includes an upfront payment to acquire Olympic’s online business and operations in Lithuania and Croatia. Under the terms of the deal, an additional earnout will be paid in early 2023 depending on performance.

Entain is also seeking an option to buy Olympic’s remaining operations in other countries in early 2023. According to Bloomberg, the company has offered to inject liquidity into that part of the business before it buys those assets, in return for concessions from bondholders including an extension of the debt maturity.