OpenBet announces acquisition of Neccton
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but OpenBet said that the purchase would strengthen responsible gambling capabilities across its network of customers.
OpenBet serves an extensive roster of clients including FanDuel, DraftKings, Entain, Sky Bet, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation and Loto Québec.
Neccton’s technology is deployed in more than 30 countries and languages. The provider’s product suite services over 60 billion transactions, analyses millions of real-time activity streams and can process tens of thousands of events per second.
Commitment to protection
“Since the birth of online sports betting, OpenBet has been at the forefront of creating compelling and safe entertainment experiences built on solid technology foundations,” OpenBet CEO Jordan Levin said.
“We thrive on solving the most complex challenges our industry presents, and OpenBet’s acquisition of Neccton takes our commitment to player protection and AML to the next level.”
Operating for more than 15 years, Neccton is currently led by the highly experienced Dr Michael Auer and Andreas Schneeberger.
Auer, who serves as managing director of Neccton, added: “We have always held the belief that many of the world’s biggest problems can be solved through a potent combination of scientific research and advanced software.
“It’s an existential imperative for our industry. Our vision is to have Neccton technology deployed by the industry’s leading brands and shaping regulatory standards.
“With its 25-year track record, high compliance standards, and position as a leading partner for World Lottery Association members, there is no better partner than OpenBet to help us achieve that.”
M&A activity
The acquisition marks the latest deal struck by OpenBet since its acquisition by Endeavour Group, which itself is owned by IMG Arena. The purchase from Scientific Games was completed in September 2021 at a price of $1.20bn.
At the time, Endeavor said the combination would create a “unique” end-to-end solution, delivering official data and video streams, content, mobile products and betting technology solutions to leagues, federations and sportsbooks.
Shortly before the acquisition, Scientific Games purchased player engagement technology supplier SportCast, developer of the first BetBuilder product.
In the months after the Endeavour deal, OpenBet continued its own M&A strategy with the purchase of betting technology and trading business Multi Builder.
Multi Builder was founded by industry veterans Oliver Preston and Jonathan Smith, with the business’ trading technology operating under the brand “Sportsbook Models”. The goal of the deal was for the services to be integrated into OpenBet’s existing product portfolio.
Speaking to iGB last year about this approach to M&A, Levin said that this activity would continue, with the aim of exploring ways OpenBet could support more customers.
“We will continue to put a lot of R&D in further developing the SportCast solutions and products, but also looking at partnerships to companies to help deliver solutions, and M&A – what’s the next SportCast that can be added on,” Levin said, speaking in February 2022.