Private investment group Centerbridge and Deutsche Telekom have joined forces to bid for sports betting and gaming operator Tipico, according to media reports. The auction for Germany’s largest privately-owned sports betting and casino group is set to end next week.
It was also reported that Centerbridge would acquire a majority stake in Tipico and Deutsche Telekom would buy a minority stake in the gambling operator in a bid to expand revenue sources beyond its traditional operations, media sources have said.
The planned bid would probably value Tipico at an approximate amount of €1 billion or about 9 times its projected earnings. In 2015, the private gaming company reported EBITDA of €110 million.
Deutsche Telekom’s bid to buy a minority stake in Tipico is not the company’s first foray into the world of gambling. It currently owns 64% in Deutsche Sportwetten GmbH, which, in turn, owns Austrian sports betting operator Tipp3. Last year, the latter introduced its operations in Germany as well.
At that point, Deutsche Telekom commented that the sports betting market was expected to grow even further, with German market volume of no less than €5 billion. According to media sources, it is still unclear to what extent Tipp3 and Tipico would cooperate, in case the German telecom indeed acquires an interest in the latter. However, many believe that such an acquisition would probably result in Deutsche Telekom boosting its current rights to stream Bundesliga matches online. Here it is important to note that the company also has been granted the right to stream other sports as well on the Internet.
According to media reports, Deutsche Telekom and Centerbridge are not the only bidders for the privately-held gambling operator, which is sold by its founders. It seems that private equity group CVC Capital Partners is also among the interested parties. In 2014, the company purchased online gambling operator Sky Bet and according to industry experts, it would be able to make a higher offer.
China-headquartered private investment company XIO Group and Czech lottery operator Sazka are also among the reported bidders for the Malta-based gambling operator. However, media sources said that the Czech company may not be able to make a particularly high offer after the recent joint bid for an Italian lottery concession together with Austrian gambling company Novomatic.
None of the above-mentioned companies have confirmed their interest in the German sports betting and casino operator.
