GGRAsia – Sega Sammy to pay US$108mln to acquire online op GAN

Sega Sammy to pay US$108mln to acquire online op GAN

Nov 09, 2023 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News, Top of the deck, World

A unit of Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc is to pay US$1.97 per share to acquire GAN Ltd, an online gaming enterprise offering business-to-business software services in the United States, and business-to-consumer services in Europe and South America. The aggregate amount is US$107.6 million, and the deal is expected to close by the third quarter of fiscal year to March 2025, according to a Wednesday press release.

Sega Sammy Holdings, an investor in the Paradise City casino resort in South Korea, is the parent of casino equipment maker Sega Sammy Creation Inc, which will acquire GAN via a special purpose company. GAN was trading at US$1.63 per share on Nasdaq as of Wednesday.

Sega Sammy Holdings said the move came after it had been “carefully identifying and evaluating investment opportunities in overseas online casino sports betting, particularly in the rapidly growing U.S. market”.

The Japanese conglomerate added: “As part of our investment strategy through the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, we plan to invest a total of up to JPY250.0 billion [US$1.66 billion] in growth, including JPY100.0 billion in the gaming business.”

Its announcement mentioned estimates by MVB Bank Inc, that the U.S. online gaming market – which Sega Sammy defined as “sports betting, including retail, and iGaming” – had been worth US$12.0 billion annually in 2022, a figure that was likely to rise by nearly 126 percent to US$27.1 billion in 2027.

The Sega Sammy group said in terms of the U.S., it saw growth opportunities particularly in iGaming.

In a recent interview with GGRAsia, Naoki Kameda, Sega Sammy Creation’s president and chief executive, said the company was tweaking its market approach in the land-based segment, in terms of manufacturing and sales, and was also eyeing the online segment to expand its reach.

In its Wednesday announcement, the Sega Sammy parent said: “While the U.S. iGaming market is still limited to six states, there are ongoing discussions around legalising iGaming in additional states. If we can enter the U.S. iGaming market before broad legalisation, it could provide a promising opportunity to grow our presence” there.

Sega Sammy noted the acquisition of GAN was being pursued on an “amicable” basis between the parties, and that GAN’s board had “expressed support” for the move.

The deal requires “receipt of regulatory approvals in relevant jurisdictions, and the satisfaction of other customary conditions”, as well as “approval from GAN shareholders”.

Wednesday’s announcement noted that as well as GAN building its business-to-business commerce in the U.S., in 2021, the target company had acquired Vincent Group Plc, which operates Coolbet, a business-to-consumer online sports betting platform in Europe and South America.

In the same year, GAN acquired Silverback Gaming, a Bulgaria-based game development studio that develops social and real money online gaming content.

The statement also said GAN had become a “market-leading turnkey online gaming solution provider, offering a comprehensive suite of online gaming products and services”.

The “complementary nature” of GAN’s online gaming technologies and the customer base and content development capabilities of Sega Sammy Creations “is expected to result in increased distribution of Sega Sammy Creation’s compelling casino content and expanded customer reach,” stated the parent company.

It added: “We decided to proceed with this acquisition because it aligns with our growth strategy and believe that it will greatly contribute to the expansion of our gaming business and gaming portfolio.”