bwin.party Acquisition Good: GVC Shines in 2016
Published March 26, 2017 by Lee R
A big merger transformed shareholder value.
International sports betting and gaming group GVC Holdings today released strong financial performance results for the full year 2016, showing a significant year-on-year jump in online revenue.
The Growth
GVC credited the growth as driven by the acquisition of bwin.party in February of the same year.
Revenue
Net gaming revenue jumped to €894.6 million in 2016 for a 9% year-on-year increase from 2015’s total of €247.7. Actual net gaming revenue stood at €843.4 million, while EBITDA for 2016 jumped 26% year-on-year to reach €193.5 million.
Sports Bets
The report further indicated key vertical performance from sports wagers, which increased 4% from €4.39 billion in 2015 to €4.55 billion in 2016.
The Big Deal
The major development of 2016 was definitely the GVC Holdings group’s acquisition of online gambling operator bwin.party on February 1, 2016, which was reflected in the dramatic increase it reported in market value several months later.
CEO Reflects
GVC CEO Kenneth Alexander called the bwin.party acquisition “one of the most ambitious transactions the company had conducted” to date. Alexander attributed operational and financial success to an organisational focus on increasing shareholder value through careful selection of acquisitions while expressing confidence in GVC’s further growth for 2017.
Strategy
As for organizational direction, Alexander divulged a strategy of “pursuing international diversification and scale through leveraging our proprietary technology.”
Looking Forward
Alexander expressed confidence in the internal sustainability of the organization:
“The organic growth opportunity is equally exciting and we are confident of delivering further growth in 2017.”
Bolstering Management
This growth is being bolstered by a change in the top ranks: non-executive Chairman Lee Feldman announced the appointment of William Whitehorn as Senior Independent Non-executive Director of GVC Holdings, praising the choice of a “highly experienced businessman” who would “contribute to the company’s growth with his experience and corporate knowledge.”
Outlook
Count GVC among the big iGaming names who will be having some fun and driving market innovation in continuing the trend of upward growth of leading iGaming brands.
