The local office of gaming giant Entain plc recently made a series of acquisitions, adding to its already strong portfolio of brands. The gaming group operating in the online and retail sector has acquired Baltics iGaming operator Enlabs and Portuguese company Bet.pt, with the acquisition being carried out by Entain’s primary MGA licensee and employer in Malta, bwin Holdings (Malta) Limited.
“The Enlabs and Bet.pt acquisitions are truly exciting steps forward for both the company and the iGaming sector in general, since they highlight Entain’s commitment to operating only in countries that are either fully regulated or in the process of regulating,” explains Karl Gonzi, Entain’s Managing Director in Malta. “Through these acquisitions, Entain has increased the number of regulated international markets in which it operates by almost a third (30 per cent) – and this in the past year alone.”
Operating many of its core brands in Europe via its Malta licences, Entain’s latest acquisitions have also amplified the number of people working in the growing local office, while benefitting from the shared knowledge, expertise and innovation between brands.
“Bet.pt has built a successful operation in Portugal from scratch, relying on third-party technology. Becoming part of Entain means that Bet.pt will be able to consolidate and optimise its infrastructure, accessing in-house tools and technologies that will drive forward the Portuguese market,” explains Peter Curmi, Head of Operations, Portugal, who oversees Bet.pt for Entain from his base in Malta.
“Furthermore, both sides will mutually benefit from the interactions and the mix of experience of the people involved. The team behind Bet.pt has strong knowledge and experience at local level, while Entain has a global perspective. Entain will bring tech muscle and scalability to the Portuguese entity,” he continues.
Entain plc is a FTSE 100 company that is a significant player in both the local and international gaming worlds. Offering sports betting, casino, poker and bingo online via its unique proprietary technology platform, it operates some of the industry’s most iconic brands including Ladbrokes, Coral, BetMGM, bwin, Sportingbet, Eurobet, partypoker, PartyCasino, Gala and Foxy Bingo. With licences to operate in more than 20 countries, the Group rebranded from GVC Holdings in December 2020 and today employs a workforce of more than 24,000, in 20 offices across five continents.
Through a combination of organic growth and mergers and acquisitions, the Group has expanded rapidly in recent years, fast becoming one of the world’s largest listed sports betting and gaming groups.
“While these transactions involved many people across the entire Entain Group globally,I am especially proud of the Malta team for stepping up in a big way and for doing our part to get these game-changing deals over the line,” adds Mr Gonzi.
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