Flutter Entertainment is going for gold in Italy.
The global online sports betting and iGaming company announced on Tuesday that it agreed to a deal with Playtech to acquire Italian online gaming operator Snaitech S.p.A a month after negotiation rumors were confirmed.
The $2.56 billion deal to acquire Italy’s third-leading mobile company at 9.9% market share is expected to close by second quarter of 2025, and once complete, will give Flutter the gold medal position in the Europe’s largest regulated gaming market with nearly 30% of the online share.
“This transaction is compelling strategically and financially,” Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said. "It fits perfectly within our strategy for value creating M&A and creates a significant opportunity to accelerate Snai’s growth by providing them with access to Flutter’s market leading products and capabilities both in the U.S. and globally.”
Snai is a major get for Flutter, owner of the popular U.S. brand FanDuel. The Italian operator that offers online sports betting and horse racing boasts 291,000 average monthly players.
Projecting profits
Snai’s online revenue and Adjusted EBITDA grew at compound rates of 26% and 32%, respectively, from 2020 to 2023. Fifty percent of its $1 billion in revenue after tax deductions in 2023 came from online operations.
Snai also has given Flutter a retail brand that makes up 19% of sports betting and 14% of gaming, the second-highest in Italy, and owns race tracks and gaming machines.
Flutter said Italy generated $23.2 billion in gross gaming revenue in 2023 and projects Milan-based Snai will produce $77.9 million in operating cost synergies over the first three years from technology and content integration.
Teamed with Sisal, another successful Italian online operator, Flutter is in a primo position in Italy.
“I look forward to welcoming the Snai team to the Flutter Group and working with them to maximize the growth opportunity for our combined businesses,” Jackson said.
Market growth
Flutter, which reported $3.6 billion in revenue during Q2, continues to grow leaps and bounds.
Jackson zeroed in on Italy a few years ago when Flutter obtained Sisal, Italy’s oldest gaming operator, in 2022 for $2.07 billion.
FanDuel’s parent company recently made a major move in Brazil, where it acquired a 56% stake in Betnacional-owned NSX Group that will give Flutter added presence in a massive newly regulated market.
Flutter is also rumored to be interested in acquiring U.S. gaming company PENN Entertainment.
The company began listing on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year and was up about 2.5% around mid-day trading on Tuesday.
