Stan James Online Sold to Unibet for £19 Million

Gibraltar betting firm Stan James has announced that it has sold its online betting operations to Unibet for £19 million, which includes the rights tot he Stan James name.

The deal will strengthen Unibet's positioning in the UK market, while allowing Stan James to focus on their own strengths of sportsbetting and horse racing. The deal will see Unibet maintaining the Stan James name for online casino operations, while utilizing the Unibet's existing library of games.

Commenting on the deal Stan James CEO Denis Kelly said, “We are delighted to join the wider Unibet group. There is a substantial market opportunity in the UK following the re-regulation. Through the combination of Unibet’s expertise in marketing and financial strength, together with Stan James’ high quality sports and racing betting offering aimed at the UK market, I am confident that we can increase substantially the combined Group’s market share in the UK.”

A Unibet statement on the acquisition read: “The transaction will significantly strengthen Unibet’s position in the large UK online market which is estimated to be worth around GBP 2.7 billion in 2015 according to H2 Gambling Capital and thus is one of the largest on-line markets globally that has already re-regulated with attractive terms and conditions.

"The acquisition price of GBP 19 million is payable fully in cash and will be adjusted for customer liabilities that Unibet will take over on completion.

"Stan James has approximately 150 employees based in Gibraltar. In line with standard EU rules on the acquisition of a business, the employees will transfer their employment to Unibet.

"In the five month period to 31 May 2015, the GWR of Stan James online business was GBP 10.5 million and the EBITDA, after charging UK point of consumption tax, was GBP 1.4 million. On an annualised basis the acquisition multiple is therefore around 6 times 2015 EBITDA, without taking account of any future synergies from the transaction.

"Such synergies can consist of more effective marketing and economies of scale associated with third-party procurement of products. For the second quarter of 2015, the number of quarterly active customers amounted to 84,266.

“Since Unibet has only recently targeted the UK market there is little overlap between our respective businesses," said Tjärnström. "Over time we see a significant potential to increase the breadth of the Stan James product range, such as live streaming, casino and improving the mobile offering.”

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