OPAP completes acquisition of 51% Stoiximan stake

Greek gaming operator OPAP Group has completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in Stoiximan Group’s Greek and Cypriot operations more than 18 months after announcing the deal.

Stoiximan will receive an OPAP stake worth €90.2m (£81.5m/$106.1m) plus net cash of €3.0m, as well as earnout payments based on performance.

OPAP’s Invest arm will acquire the stake from GML Interactive, a subsidiary of Stoiximan parent company TCB Holdings, and gain joint control of the business alongside two of TCB’s existing shareholders.

Following the closure of this deal, OPAP  now holds a 69% stake in Stoiximan’s Greek and Cypriot business, but this will increase to an 84.49% stake following the closure of an additional deal announced in April. It also holds a 36.75% stake in its business elsewhere, which operates under the Betano brand.

OPAP also said it intends to take steps towards sole control of the Greek and Cypriot operations through a further deal worth €30m. The combined purchase price for 100% of the business would therefore come to €163.4m.

The 51% purchase was first announced in January 2019 and was approved by the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) in November of that year with later approval from the Cyprus Commission for the Protection of Competition and gaming regulatory authorities.