Costa Bingo owner Mandalay sold to Intertain for £60m
Intertain Group and Mandalay Media agree deal which will see Canadian company add bingo to gaming portfolio
Toronto-based Intertain Group is set to acquire Costa Bingo owner Mandalay Media in a £60m deal that will see the Intercasino owners take control of a number of UK-focused bingo sites.
The acquisition, which is made up of an initial cash payment of £45m with a further £15m to be paid dependent on performance, is subject to Intertain securing the financing required to complete the deal.
If completed, Intertain will gain a foothold in the online UK bingo market, which along with sports betting had been a long-term target for the company.
Mandalay owns some of the UK’s leading online bingo websites, including Costa Bingo, Sing Bingo, City Bingo, Fancy Bingo and Rio Bingo as well as leading affiliate sites Casino Choice and Ignite.
Intertain currently offers casino and poker games to its customers using the Malta-licensed InterCasino and InterPoker brands through subsidiary CryptoLogic Operations, which it acquired from Amaya Gaming in 2013.
“As we have previously stated, bingo and sports betting are a key verticals missing from our current gaming platform supplied by Amaya Gaming Group,” John Kennedy FitzGerald, CEO of Intertain, said.
“This bingo acquisition will add a missing gaming vertical, a bingo-focused marketing team, diversify our current casino offering and is expected to be materially accretive to earnings per share and free cash flow.
“In addition to these important milestones, our existing brand, InterBingo will now have a leading bingo platform to reside,” he added.
More to follow.