Entain CEE set to close STS deal after securing shareholder backing

Entain CEE’s tender offer, announced in June, sees the joint venture pay PLN24.80 per STS share for an equity value of £750m, and an enterprise value of approximately £690m.

With STS chief executive Mateusz Juroszek and his father Zbigniew signing a binding agreement to accept the offer, there was already majority support for the deal. The Juroszeks hold around 70% of the operator’s share capital.

Now, Entain says that STS shareholders holding 155,591,656 in STS shares have agreed to the deal, accounting for 99.3% of the total issued share capital. Settlement of the shares tendered through the offer, and its completion, is expected on 24 August.

Entain will instigate “compulsory acquisition proceedings” to acquire the remaining shares. In the meantime, STS will begin to de-list from the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Entain CEE: One year on

This marks a significant development for Entain CEE’s second acquisition, with the company just over one year old. Its first was Croatian market leader SuperSport, which Entain scooped up for €690m in November last year.

Entain partnered with Emma Capital to create Entain CEE in conjunction with the SuperSport acquisition.

The CEE-focused company is working to make acquisitions in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

Entain has a 75% stake in Entain CEE, while Emma Capital holds the remaining 25% stake. This means Entain is responsible for approximately £450m of the total offer to acquire STS. Emma is responsible for the remainder.

What are the next steps?

To complete the purchase of STS, Entain raised £600m in an equity placement, as well as a retail offer to shareholders through the PrimaryBid platform. The leftover £150m will be put to other acquisition efforts.

As Entain has confirmed, the STS deal is expected to close this week. Once it officially concludes, Entain CEE will own Poland’s leading sportsbook operator.

The deal comes after STS posted a 26% rise in revenue from its Polish operations to PLN170m. At the time, Juroszek said that potential is “high” in the Polish market.

“The potential of the domestic igaming industry is high and STS is able to effectively exploit its market position,” he said. “We hope to record the highest player activity in the last quarter of this year.”