New journey begins for Olympic Entertainment as Odyssey completes takeover

Legacy Eastern European gambling operator, Olympic Entertainment Group (OEG) begins a new chapter as a private enterprise.

Last Friday, OEG governance completed the firm’s delisting from the Tallinn Nasdaq Exchange, as private equity firm Odyssey Europe completed its €290 million outright takeover of OEG, a transaction first announced on 19 March 2018.

Prior to the company hosting its ‘extraordinary general meeting’ on 10 September, OEG’s majority investors Armin Karu (45% – Hansa Assets) and Jaan Korpusov (18% – Hendaya Investments) had agreed to the takeover terms.

Odyssey Europe is the special purpose vehicle of Luxembourg-based private equity firm Novalpina Capital, a specialist in Eastern European enterprise investments.

OEG maintains the biggest casino and sportsbook presence within the markets of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Furthermore, in recent years OEG has expanded its services for the markets of Slovakia, Malta and Italy.

Nevertheless, OEG’s expansion strategy has been hindered by stringent changes to gambling regulatory conditions within a number of Eastern European jurisdictions, as the company withdrew its operations from Poland and Belarus in 2017.