Online gambling affiliate specialist RakeTech Group has announced that it has acquired two affiliate companies to fuel its acquisition drive. Sports betting-focused platform BetXpert and iGaming affiliate business Turtle Gaming have become the most recent members of the RakeTech family amid the latter’s European expansion push. The purchase price has remained undisclosed.
Both BetXpert and Turtle Gaming are established names in the Nordic online gambling markets. Here it is important to note that the Scandinavian region is a core market for RakeTech, as well.
Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Malta, RakeTech has gradually expanded its affiliate network to over 1,500 websites in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The company has also developed interest in the regulated remote gambling markets of Spain and the UK.
Offering information in both Danish and English, BetXpert will boost RakeTech’s sports betting arm with related quality content and live data information about ongoing sports events, among other things. As for Turtle Gaming, RakeTech sees its purchase as a chance to boost its Nordic affiliate presence with iGaming-focused websites targeting local players. As seen on Turtle Gaming’s website, Finland, in particular, has been the company’s core market.
Denmark is currently the only regulated market in the region. The country has been attracting wide interest from the industry since it opened its market for licensed iGaming operations in 2012. It was also announced late last week that Sweden may too become a regulated online gambling jurisdiction, if lawmakers follow the recommendations of the recently published report on its gambling industry. It is believed that a new licensing regime may be introduced in the country in early 2019.
Bearing the above information in mind, affiliate acquisition activity will probably increase even further in the region.
RakeTech actually fits perfectly a model established several years ago by its peers, with Catena Media, Gaming Innovation Group, and Cherry AB being few of those. All those companies originate from the Nordics, are based in Malta where it is much easier to access a wider gambling audience, and are building larger affiliate portfolios by acquiring major and sometimes not-so-major players in the iGaming affiliate field.
RakeTech, in particular, has recently announced that it has secured the amount of €70 million in funding for future acquisitions. The company has further clarified that it would use the money to purchase smaller and medium-sized iGaming and online sports betting affiliate websites that will be a good match to its established structure and focus on particular European markets.
Strategic acquisitions have always been part of RakeTech’s growth agenda. The company has boosted its growth strategy by sealing 12 affiliate acquisition deals over the past two years.
