Sky Bet owner acquires online bingo operator Tombola for £402m

Flutter Entertainment's acquisition of Tombola will help diversify the Sky Bet owner's products and enhance the firm's online gaming presence in its core UK market.

Tombola has teams primarily located in Sunderland and Gibraltar and a fully regulated revenue base with over 80 per cent coming from the UK and 16 per cent from Italy and Spain.

The business has around 400,000 average monthly players and over 700 employees.

In its financial year to the end of April 2021 Tombola generated pro forma revenue of £164m and EBITDA of £38.5m.

Under the terms of the transaction, Flutter will pay £402m in cash upon completion for 100 per cent of the business. The transaction is conditional on merger control clearance by the UK Competition and Markets Authority and is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2022.

Peter Jackson, chief executive of Flutter, said: "As the world's leading online gambling operator, Flutter is delighted to add Tombola, the UK's premier bingo brand to the group.

"Tombola is a business we have long admired for its product expertise, highly recreational customer base and focus on sustainable play.

"The brand aligns closely with Flutter's safer gambling strategy, a key area of focus for us. I am excited to combine Flutter's digital marketing expertise with Tombola's operational capabilities within the UK and Ireland division."

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James Mitchinson