SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Catena Media Plc has accelerated its corporate reorganisation by securing an agreement to sell its UK and Australia sports betting brands to Moneta Communications Ltd for €6m.
The agreement will see Catena sell the assets of Squawka.com and GG.co.uk, in addition to all shares in the group’s wholly-owned Australian subsidiary.
“The sale marks a further step forward in refocusing the business on the North American market following the strategic review of the business communicated in May 2022,” Catena informed investors.
Dealmakers expect the sale to be concluded during Q3 trading, in which Catena will receive a €5.8m cash payment on closing, with a further €200,000 to be paid within a 75-day period. Proceeds from the sale will be used primarily to repay debt, thereby reducing the group’s leverage ratio.
Building its UK portfolio, Catena Media acquired the football news portal Squawka.com for £1m cash in 2017. A year later, Catena would purchase the horse racing community GG.co.uk for £2m.
Catena informed that following an impairment charge of €15.2m arising from the sale, dealmakers viewed the UK and AUS sportsbook assets to hold a net book value of €6m as of 30 June 2023.
The UK and AUS sportsbook holdings had generated combined revenues of €45m and an EBITDA of approximately €900,000 in the past 12 months to date. Furthe benefits will see Catena reduce its group cost base by an estimated €2.8m on an annual basis.
Catena Media CEO, Michael Daly, said: “This agreement is another milestone on our journey to focus the business on the North American online sportsbook and casino affiliation market. The strategic review has led us to reshape our brand portfolio to reflect this closer operational focus, and I am pleased to be delivering further progress in that direction.
“I am also delighted that we have found a buyer that is well placed to build on the success of our UK and Australian sports and casino brands and will offer them the scope and support they need to develop and grow.”
OneTwenty – the parent company of Moneta – has cited value creation in the UK and Australian markets and a further strengthening of its igaming ecosystem as the primary factors behind the takeover.
Chris Russell, OneTwenty CEO, said: “This purchase is another step on our journey to becoming a leading digital publisher at the convergence of sports, media and betting.
“We are reshaping our portfolio to focus on engaging fan experiences that allow us to build ecosystems for our loyal user base to enjoy. The portfolio builds on our horse racing and football audiences particularly and allows us to serve increasing demand from our sports-betting partners.”
