European gaming giant Entain has completed the acquisitions of operators Enlabs AB and Bet.pt in moves that it said further its strategy of targeting fully regulated markets.
The acquisitions contribute to the 30% increase of fully regulated markets Entain is in, and introduce Entain into four new regulated European markets. With the acquired operators active in a combined six markets in which Entain was not already active, it brings Entain’s total number of regulated markets to 27.
Entain set out to acquire Baltic-based Enlabs in January 2021 with an offer of £250m. This was then increased to £314.6m after Entain increased its acquisition share offer from SEK40 to SEK53.
The acquisition was finalised in March as 94.6% of shareholders backed the deal.
Then known as GVC, Entain struck a deal to acquire Portuguese operator Bet.pt in October 2020.
GVC was rebranded to Entain in November 2020 with a priority to only operate in fully regulated markets.
“These new acquisitions are in line with our strategy to expand into new locally regulated markets” said Rob Wood, CFO and deputy chief executive of Entain.
“We are committed to operating only in countries which are either already fully regulated or in the process of regulating and will continue to look for opportunities to expand our business internationally.”
The news comes as Entain announces new affordability checks across 14 brands in the British market as part of its Advanced Responsibility and Care (ARC) initiative. Work is underway to customise the initiative for further markets throughout 2021.
