In stark contrast to rival the 888 Group selling 58 of its William Hill betting shops to staunch its financial wounds, Ladbrokes holding company Entain is acquiring sports media business 365scores for $150m.
The Isle of Man-headquartered global gaming giant announced the buyout of the Israeli firm on Wednesday. The strategy behind the acquisition — which includes conditional payments of up to an additional $10m — is for Entain to beef up its interactive content and user experience.
inspired the founders to build an app that now offers coverage of multiple sports worldwide”
Four members of the Israel Defense Force’s Center of Computing and Information Systems founded 365scores in 2010. Experience gained on the army’s warning systems, they say, “inspired the founders to build an app that now offers coverage of multiple sports worldwide.”
Given what Entain called 365scores’ “deep expertise in data-driven sports media content,” the buyout fits what Chief Financial Officer Rob Wood said in March was desirous to Entain’s growth strategy.
In a statement, Entain said the purchase of 365scores combined with Entain’s global scale and platforms would ultimately benefit the latter’s customers. According to Israeli tech news site calcalistech.com, the app already comes with 20 million global users and adds to Entain’s November purchase of Croatian sportsbook operator SuperSport Group.