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Initially, Entain was committed to taking out a $750m loan; however, following strong demand from global investors, it decided to up the amount to $1bn.
The borrowed money will be used to acquire SuperSport – a deal Entain announced earlier this year and is expected to close during Q4, creating a new Entain CEE subsidiary along with it.
Otherwise, the cash will help maximise Entain’s cash reserves to provide ‘further balance sheet flexibility. In particular, the acquisition of BetCity (announced on 14 June 2022 and expected to complete during Q4) will no longer require drawings on the group’s revolving credit facility.’
The loan is expected to be complete by the end of October 2022, when the funds will be transferred to Entain.
The new loan comes days after Entain’s Q3 report showed a 2% increase in net gaming revenue, a 6% increase in active online customers and a 10% rise in retail net gaming revenue.
Jette Nygaard-Andersen, Entain CEO, commented on the Q3 results: “Our business continues to perform well with good underlying momentum across the group, including in BetMGM. This illustrates the effectiveness of our growth strategy, the unique capabilities of the Entain platform, and the underlying strength of our diversified global business.”
As Gambling Insider analysed in our GI Friday debrief last week, Entain’s joint venture with MGM Resorts International, BetMGM, is seeing particular success in North America within the online casino segment.
To demonstrate this success, BetMGM was named Digital Operator of the year at the 2021 Global Gaming Awards Las Vegas; this year, it finished runner-up.
