Zeal reports 22% revenue growth following SevenCanyon acquisition 

German lottery brokerage Zeal Network SE reported a 22% increase in group revenue for the first nine months of 2026, to €198.8 million ($223.8 million), as its lottery business grew and it began consolidating UK prize-draw operator SevenCanyon.

This was up from €162.6 million in the same period of 2025.

Group EBITDA rose 9% to €58.7 million, despite one-off merger and acquisition costs that the company described as “mid-single-digit millions of euros”.

Zeal acquired the remaining 96.5% of SevenCanyon on 9 July and included the business in its results for the first time in the third quarter. 

SevenCanyon contributed €10.5 million in revenue over the nine-month period. Revenue in Zeal’s “Others” segment increased 241% year on year to €15.8 million; the segment recorded EBITDA of €2.6 million, of which €1.4 million came from SevenCanyon.

Core business ‘continues to grow’

Chief executive Dr Stefan Tweraser said the broader business mix was supporting growth and reducing the company’s exposure to jackpot cycles. 

“Our strategy to diversify our business is paying off. We are expanding our revenue basis and opening new growth opportunities,” Tweraser explained.

“Our core business of brokering state lotteries continues to grow, while our charity lotteries, games and the newly acquired international business of SevenCanyon strongly contribute to revenues and further reduce our exposure to jackpot cycles,” he added.

“We have successfully consolidated SevenCanyon into the Zeal Group, laying an important foundation for the diversification of our business,” said CFO Andrea Behrendt.

Double digit growth for charity lotteries

Lottery revenue rose 16% to €170.8 million, from €147.7 million a year earlier. Lottery billings increased 10% to €915.1 million.

Zeal added more than one million lottery customers during the period, up 15% on the 879,000 recorded in the first nine months of 2025. Average monthly active lottery users reached 1.678 million, compared with 1.572 million a year earlier. The lottery gross margin improved to 18.3%, from 17.5%.

Games revenue increased 18% to €12.1 million, while games billings rose 17% to €160.3 million. Average monthly active users in games grew to 35,000 from 28,000.

The company said its charity lotteries, including the Dream Car and Dream House raffles, continued to record double-digit growth. Dream House raffles averaged €9 million in billings per prize event over the period.

Zeal said customer growth supported more than €300 million in contributions to public funding and charitable causes in Germany, a figure cited by Behrendt.

Revenue forecast lifted

The company maintained its EBITDA forecast of between €70 million and €75 million. That outlook includes expected non-recurring acquisition costs and assumes a normal jackpot environment in Germany.

Following SevenCanyon’s consolidation and its presentation under International Financial Reporting Standards, Zeal raised its full-year revenue guidance to €270 million-€280 million, from a previous range of €250 million-€260 million.

The story behind the acquisition

For Zeal, the SevenCanyon acquisition was an ideal way to enter the UK prize draw market. When speaking to analysts about the acquisition, Tweraser explained that Zeal’s commitment to regulation was an overarching factor in the success of its market entry.

“We expect the UK price draw to continue moving towards more formalised rules and higher regulated standards. This should really favour us with strong experience over the last 20 years in a highly regulated market like Germany,” he said.

He added: “This is an ideal environment for us as a well-capitalised consolidator with the right infrastructure [and] a rules-based setup. Rising standards favour operators with a strong compliance capability and market-related expertise.”

Currently, the prize draw sector in the UK exists outside traditional lottery regulation. A voluntary code, set up by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, has revolutionised the operations of the sector, providing guidance for operators around player protection and accountability. 

Although not legally binding, this code has been framed as essential for operators looking to establish themselves in the UK prize draw market. 

“SevenCanyon was one of the big proponents and big drivers of that voluntary code of conduct,” Tweraser emphasised during the call.