Catena Media amends earn-out for BayBets acquisition

Affiliate giant Catena Media has amended the terms of the second and final earn-out payment for its purchase of BayBets, the German sports betting affiliate it agreed to acquire in December 2017.

Catena has agreed to pay a fixed sum of €13m (£11.7m/$14.6m) for the final earn-out payment. This will be paid in three cash installments, by October 1 this year.

The amendment means that the final sum paid to acquire BayBets will be lower than the initial agreement, with Catena also taking full control of the German assets earlier than expected.

Under the original deal, Catena made an upfront payment of €26.5m for BayBets, which operates a network of 50 sports betting affiliate sites, primarily focused on the German market.

Catena then made its first earn-out payment of €13.5m, of which 35% was paid in shares. In February this year, Catena issued 468,132 shares at a subscription price of SEK103.67 per share to make up this 35%.

As a result of the amendment, and taking into account the earlier payments, the final total consideration for the BayBets acquisition is €53m, lower than the original maximum consideration of €63.5m.

“By amending the final earn-out terms we are both obtaining full operational control at an earlier stage as well as lowering the final and total cost of the BayBets acquisition,” Catena chief executive Per Hellberg explained. “We are thereby avoiding further dilution as well as strengthening our balance sheet.”