Shedding Italian B2C business
International Game Technology (IGT) has announced that it is selling its Italy-facing Lottomatica subsidiary to Gamenet Group in an all-cash deal for €950m ($1.15bn). Included in the agreement are two Italian sports betting, gaming machine, and digital gaming B2C businesses, Lottomatica Scommesse and Lottomatica Videolot Rete. Gamenet is managed by an affiliate of US investment firm Apollo Global Management.
IGT primarily plans to use the sale proceeds to lower its debt.
Lottomatica Scommesse and Lottomatica Videolot Rete have a total enterprise value of about €1.1bn ($1.3bn) and their aggregated adjusted EBITDA last year was €207m ($251m). The €950m sale price will see €750m ($910m) payable at closing, with €100m ($121m) payable on December 31, 2021. The final €125m ($152m) is due on September 30, 2022. IGT primarily plans to use the sale proceeds to lower its debt.
Closing next year
IGT expects the deal to close during the first half of 2021. The company’s board of directors has already unanimously approved the sale, though standard closing conditions are still necessary.
In Sunday’s announcement, IGT CEO Marco Sala spoke about how the sale price of Lottomatica is “an attractive multiple to comparable Italian transactions.” He went on to explain that IGT is continuing to reorganize and rebalance as a business.
Credit Suisse International is the lead financial advisor for IGT in this deal, with UBS acting as the financial and fairness opinion advisor.
IGT hit hard
IGT recently reported a 14.9% year-on-year drop in revenue for the third quarter. While there were gains in its lottery division, the global gaming division was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In July, IGT split its business into two main segments as part of a major overhaul, separating the global lottery and global gaming segments. The aim of the shakeup is to become more competitive, efficient, and effective at providing solutions.
Apollo Global making moves
Apollo Global, on the other hand, has been eying acquisitions in the gaming space. It made an official bid in September to purchase UK gambling operator William Hill, though it withdrew from the running in November.
Apollo Global recently invested €500m ($606m) into the Sazka Group and inked a CA$3.3bn (US$2.6bn) agreement to purchase the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation.
