The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has given its blessing to Japanese tech group MIXI’s plans to acquire Australian firm PointsBet, a key betting operator in Ontario.
North America has been a key market for Melbourne-headquartered PointsBet for some time, with the company having launched in Ontario – the only regulated multi-licensed betting market in Canada – back in 2023.
The US was a key market for the group until April 2024 when it sold its American business to Fanatics Betting and Gaming, a growing challenger brand in the country. Following the takeover, the firm has focused on Ontario as its sole North American market, perhaps due to the tough competition in the US in the form of FanDuel, DraftKings and others.
Bidding battle reaches pinnacle
As MIXI’s takeover will entail the acquisition of PointsBet Canada, the AGCO’s approval was required and has now been received. PointsBet states that the AGCO has ‘no concerns’ with MIXI’s proposed acquisition.
The firm has also declared that now the condition requiring Ontario approval has been secured, there are no further gaming regulatory approvals required for MIXI to proceed with its takeover bid.
Approval from PointsBet shareholders has also been secured, with the firm having been encouraging stakeholders to approve the bid for the past few months, even while it briefly considered a counter offer made by Australian betting challenger BlueBet, which trades as Betr following a merger last year with its fellow challenger brand.
MIXI first put in a AUS$353m (£168.6m) offer for Betr back in February, which was followed by a $360m offer made by Betr in May that was briefly considered as ‘superior offer’ by PointsBet, though it continued to recommend the MIXI offer to shareholders.
The Japanese digital tech company would then put in a $402m offer last month, recognised by PointsBet as being superior to Betr’s. The firm also stated that it had undertaken an investigation of a potential M&A with Betr and did not believe it was in its best interests.
Betr has not gone down without a fight as the bidding battle concludes, however, having protested that its status as a 19.9% shareholder in PointsBet had been omitted during the PointsBet shareholder vote. It seems though the ASX-listed multinational is committed to the prospect of becoming part of MIXI’s global business.
This will substantially expand MIXI’s presence in Australian sports betting, with the firm currently the owner of the Northern Territory (NT) brand BetM. Taking over PointsBet will take MIXI’s betting presence nationally in Australia as well as in Ontario, Canada.
