Gambling.com Group has made another acquisition with the purchase of XLMedia‘s European and Canadian sports betting and gaming assets.
The two companies have entered into a binding agreement with a total consideration of up to $42.5 million, including a fixed sum of $37.5 million plus a potential earnout of up to $5 million based on revenue performance. Some $20 million of that total will be payable upon the completion date, expected to be April 1.
The deal includes affiliate gaming sites such as Freebets.com, WhichBingo.co.uk, Nettikasinot.com, Vedonlyonti.com and XLMedia’s smaller European and Canadian sites.
XLMedia launched in North America in 2020 but last year saw its revenue fall below full-year expectations. In a release on Wednesday, the company said the sale to Gambling.com is aimed at ensuring it can “focus on delivering value for shareholders from its North America business,” which is not part of the sale.
Proceeds from the transaction will be used to cover asset transition costs, pay the final deferred U.S. acquisition payment, settle outstanding tax provisions and provide working capital to support its North American operations, all while returning cash to shareholders.
“The board believes the sale of these assets, which is approximately two times the current market capitalization of the whole company, is an excellent outcome for XLMedia and its shareholders,” said Marcus Rich, Chair of XLMedia. “Importantly, this transaction will allow the company to clear legacy liabilities, provide working capital and return cash to shareholders.”
XLMedia says it believes it is “well positioned” to drive revenues across its Owned and Operated and Media Partnership Business segments in existing regulated states and states that are yet to legalize online sports betting.
Gambling.com looks to future
Meanwhile, for Gambling.com, the acquisition is the latest move with eyes on the future.
“This acquisition will provide us with another big brand and assets that complement our existing website portfolio in a number of our key-focus markets, enabling us to drive further growth which is both high margin and highly accretive,” said CEO and co-founder Charles Gillespie. “By operating these assets on our technology platform, we expect to unlock their full potential. We are confident that this latest acquisition will create incremental shareholder value in the same way we have done with previous acquisitions.”
In its latest financial report released on March 21, Gambling.com Group projects that the acquisition will produce approximately $10 million in revenue and incremental Adjusted EBITDA of around $5 million during the last nine months of 2024.
Looking back, 2023 saw a year-on-year increase in revenue (up 42.1% to $108.7 million) as well as adjusted EBITDA and net profit growth in 2023, helped by a record Q4 in which revenue hit a new high of $32.5 million, an increase of 52.6%.
The digital marketing services provider noted several new acquisitions and expansions in 2023 helped to drive the growth. The group launched in both Ohio and Massachusetts last year and added Casinos.com to its portfolio of branded websites that also include Gambling.com, Bookies.com, and RotoWire.com. In total, the group owns and operates more than 50 websites across 15 national markets.
“Our Q4 and full-year North American revenue increased 103% and 69%, respectively. This growth was driven by new state launches, strong increases in ‘same-state’ sales and our blossoming media partnership initiatives,” Gillespie added.
