LeoVegas divests 25% share in BeyondPlay amid middling Q4 results
Swedish operator records 73% return on investment less than two years after selling its stake in the social gaming startup to Bettor Capital for €1.9m
LeoVegas has divested its 25% stake in social gaming startup BeyondPlay to Bettor Capital for €1.9m (£1.69m).
The Swedish operator originally invested in the firm, formerly known as SharePlay, via its LeoVentures arm in March 2021.
This divestment will now see LeoVegas secure a 73% return on its original €1.1m investment into BeyondPlay.
BeyondPlay was founded in 2020 by former LeoVegas exec Karolina Pelc with the aim of transforming solo gaming sessions into multiplayer experiences via streaming.
Speaking on the decision to shed the stake in BeyondPlay, LeoVegas CEO Gustaf Hagman said: “It has been truly incredible to watch BeyondPlay grow from an idea to a leader in its industry niche over the last two years. Karolina Pelc and her team have done an impressive job, and I know they are just getting started.
“We look forward to maintaining our valued partnership with BeyondPlay, and wish them all the best in their continued growth.”
Pelc added: “LeoVentures has been a fantastic acceleration partner for BeyondPlay, and we are grateful for the support received from the early days to date. We remain committed to a successful commercial partnership with LeoVegas Group and are excited for the next chapter of our journey.”
Bettor Capital was founded by FanDuel’s former head of strategy David VanEgmond in 2020 and counts the likes of Future Anthem and Boom Entertainment in its investment portfolio.
On the new future with Bettor Capital, Pelc commented: “Looking to the future, securing the backing of such a prominent VC firm as Bettor Capital, among other hugely significant strategic industry investors, as part of a larger fundraising effort, is a powerful statement on our company’s growth trajectory. I am looking forward to announcing more details very soon.”
Elsewhere, LeoVegas reported a 1% year-on-year (YoY) increase in net gaming revenue (NGR), reaching €99.5m in Q4 2022, while organic growth in local currencies was 6%.
LeoVegas noted the Nordics saw a 9% increase in NGR, with its sports betting brand Expekt continuing to perform well in Sweden.
In the rest of Europe, NGR rose by 4%, with the UK and Spain posting healthy growth for the quarter, but Germany continued to be a problem area for the operator.
In the rest of the world, NGR fell by 15% as the firm closed a couple of smaller markets earlier in the year which had been active in Q4 2021.
Reported EBITDA for the quarter was down from €11.6m to €-2.6m during Q4 and included a number of mitigating factors which totalled €1.1m. These were in relation to transaction-related costs and provisions for incentive programmes.
EBIT fell from €6.1m to negative €2.5m during Q4 while net profit plummeted from €4.2m to negative €7.8m.