Unibet: Unibet Returns to France
Unibet Plc has announced the other day that it acquired French online gaming company Solfive SAS in its entirety, thus making its way back into the French online poker/online gambling market. Solfive SAS operates a variety of online poker and online gambling products under the Eurosport brand. The cost of the acquisition is said to be €5.6 million, plus a net cash adjustment of €1.5 million. The transaction would allow Solfive SAS to settle an outstanding debt of €2.5 million.
Although all the details of the acquisition seem to be set and agreed on, the transaction is pending the approval of French regulator ARJEL. If all goes according to plan, the deal will be completed by the end of the year. Once the takeover is completed, Unibet will rebrand the operation to Unibet.fr, in an attempt to build on the fame and customer base of its own brand. While the takeover will increase Unibet’s regulated revenues, it is not expected to boost the profitability of the company through 2012.
Unibet is aware of the difficulties of squeezing a profit out of the Solfive SAS deal over the short term. Over the long-run though, the company believes that the French regulation model is a sustainable one that will eventually prove profitable. Olivier Ou Ramdane, CEO of Solfive SAS hailed the deal as an opportunity for his company to reach its true potential in France.
