The Gaming Business: Evolution Acquired NetEnt to Strengthen Its Position

What does this mean for the iGaming industry? How will it affect the casinos? More importantly, how will it affect players? Let’s find out!

Websites like https://syndicate-casino.co.nz/ get their casino titles from game developers. As such, they are impacted by the goings-on among these developers. Mergers and acquisitions can affect their business. Recently, the company Evolution acquired NetEnt.

The Offer

Evolution made an offer of SEK19.6bn to buy Netent. It is a deal that this company seeks to strengthen its position in the US gambling market. The bid is around $1.87 billion.  

Evolution is located in Stockholm, and it is the leading provider of live casino games. This bid for the acquisition will make Evolution the leader of all iGaming companies in the world. In addition, the company will also retain its position as the leading provider in the casino industry.

The chairman of NetEnt, Mathias Hedlund, welcomed the offer. He said that the combined companies would strengthen the company in terms of market reach, particularly in North America. The offer represents 43% of NetEnt’s share price in the stock market. The sum is big, which gives NetEnt 72% more than its weighted average value compared to its stock performance in the last 30 days.

According to Evolution, the shareholders that own around 20% of NetEnt expressed that they will accept the offer. The board of directors of this company encouraged other shareholders to support this bid and sell. 

What Will Happen Next?

If this acquisition proceeds, the combined company will be able to save 30 million EUR in its operations. Evolution said that they would release an offer document by August 14 this year. The offer document will expire by October 26. If everything goes well, the transaction should be final by November 2. 

Once the deal is final, Evolution will become a powerhouse in the iGaming industry, particularly in casino games. Right now, Evolution is the biggest in live casino games. With NetEnt in its portfolio, the acquisition will solidify its foothold in computerized gambling games in various markets.

As of the time of this writing, NetEnt has applied for the delisting of its shares from Nasdaq Stockholm. During this merger, the NetEnt company will now operate under the flagship banner of Evolution. 

During this acquisition, Evolution will do an overhaul with NetEnt’s operations. The goal is to integrate the two companies into a solid organizational structure. Once this is complete, it can be expected that the unified company will have a better or much more streamlined system.

The result is better and faster service. Players and online casinos can expect more slot games. NetEnt Live, its branch for live dealer games, will also shut down. The negative aspect of this is that many employees will lose their jobs. The current CEO of NetEnt, Therese Hillman, will continue with the transition and then leave the company. 

Overall, acquisitions like this can only make two companies become a single yet better group. With the technologies of these two providers, players can expect to receive better games and more advanced systems from the re-structured organization.

Final Thoughts

Acquisitions will always happen in any business industry. While some folks may say that a monopoly is underway, legislators will not let this happen. If at all, players should be happy because an acquisition means that the acquiring party will make the other a better company.  

In this particular acquisition, Evolution will take advantage of its live casino offerings and also push NetEnt’s formidable slot machines. As such, we can expect more online casinos to offer both products now that they belong to the same portfolio.