Canada-based FansUnite acquires betting platform McBookie

FansUnite Entertainment announced last week the acquisition of McBookie, a provider of regulated betting services in the United Kingdom. According to the company, the transaction will provide a strong foundation for the future of FansUnite as the company continues to look to consolidate assets in leading regulated gaming jurisdictions such as the U.K.

McBookie has been operating in the UK market since 2009 and provides its customers with sports betting, casino, and virtual sports offerings. Currently, the company highlights approximately 10,000 active members and has handled a total of $340M CAD in betting since inception. In the last three years alone, McBookie has taken over $135M CAD in betting volume onto their platform. In the current climate, the casino and virtual offerings have continued to grow as new players are signing up to the McBookie platform to take advantage of online offerings.

"We have always believed in the huge potential of the McBookie brand and our most recent investment will allow us to provide this asset with the necessary resources to become a leader in the UK market," said Darius Eghdami, Chairman and CEO of FansUnite Entertainment. "Remarkably, McBookie has been able to build their brand and customer base through mostly organic channels. Paul Petrie and Damian Walker are excellent operators and with our team, we will now be able to assist them in continuing to grow their membership base and increasing their betting volume."

"These are exciting times ahead and we look forward to working with the FansUnite team to continue to grow the McBookie platform throughout the UK," said Paul Petrie, founder, and Director of McBookie.

"With little or no sport for customers to bet on since the middle of March, we have been extremely encouraged by the strong performance of the casino and virtuals," continued Damian Walker, founder, and Director of McBookie. "With leagues such as the German Bundesliga already returning this past weekend, we would expect these numbers to continue to grow once customers return to the site as sports continue to come back."

The net revenue for gambling in Great Britain increased from roughly 8.4 billion British pounds in 2011 to approximately 14.4 billion British pounds in 2018.1

Total consideration for the acquisition of McBookie was $2.2M CAD. This included approximately $500k in cash on the closing of the acquisition, a $500k (£300k) note payable, due within 12 months of the close and $1.2M in shares at $0.35 (3,497,143 common shares). McBookie had no long term debt at the time of the acquisition.