888 Takeover Irish Online Bookie Betbright in £15m Deal

By Simon Wright, Last updated Feb 23, 2021

Gibraltar based 888Holdings plc, who are synonymous with 888Casino, have today announced the acquisition of Dublin based Betbright, in a deal worth £15 million. Betbright for those not aware are an online bookmaker backed by racehorse owner Rich Ricci, who in 2016 invested some £7m into the online bookmaker.

With headquarters based in Dublin but with a UKGC license, allowing them to serve UK based punters, Betbright offer sports betting and also an online casino offering to their customers.

888Holdings which is listed on the FTSE250 index on the London Stock Exchange, announced the acquisition to the markets and their shareholders this morning. With the company stating: “888, one of the world’s leading online gaming entertainment and solutions providers, announces the signing of an agreement by its wholly-owned subsidiaries for the acquisition of certain assets of Dedsert Limited and Dedsert (Ireland) Limited and its affiliates (together, “BetBright”) for £15 million (the “Transaction”).”

The acquisition will further enhance and strengthen the company’s interest in the online sports betting market, particularly in the UK, which is regarded as the company’s main market.

Speaking about the acquisition, recently installed CEO, Itai Pazner, commented: ”

“This acquisition of a high-quality and scalable sportsbook is an exciting milestone for 888. It gives the Group the missing piece in our proprietary product and technology portfolio and will enable 888 to own proprietary, end-to-end solutions across the four major online gaming verticals.

 With 888Sport becoming an increasingly established and popular worldwide sports betting destination, we believe it is the right time to take ownership of our full sports betting proposition. We are confident that this acquisition will increase the Group’s long-term prospects and differentiation in the growing global sports betting market.

 The BetBright sportsbook has been developed by a fantastic team and is a high quality and scalable platform. Our new colleagues joining from BetBright will significantly strengthen 888’s sports betting expertise and industry know-how, and we are delighted to welcome them into the Group.

 This is the third acquisition that the Group has made in recent months and demonstrates the Group’s commitment to its strategy: to be a global leader in the online gaming market by driving organic growth across regulated markets, supported by value-accretive M&A.”

Football fans may have have heard of Betbright as the company is the current shirt sponsor of English Football League Championship side, Nottingham Forest. Having started sponsoring the club at the beginning of the 2018 – 2019 season, in a deal that Forest called a ‘Landmark’ partnership.

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