The online gambling operator and supplier Elys Game Technology has announced a definitive agreement to acquire the entirety of the Nevada-based US Bookmaking (USB).
US Bookmaking is a company that provides sports betting services to operators in the US.
The acquisition
Under the agreement, Elys will pay an initial $12m for USB, which will be split across 50% cash and 50% of its common stock.
Additional earnout payments up to $41.8m will also be paid as 50% cash and 50% in Elys common stock. However, this will be subject to USB meeting certain adjusted cumulative earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) between $213,850 in 2021 and $19.4m for 2025.
According to the announcement, the deal could close as early as 15 July.
Vic Salerno, President, and founder of US Bookmaking said: “We started US Bookmaking with a vision to build a top-ranked team of experienced bookmakers in light of the looming repeal of sports betting prohibition in the US.
“Since 2018, our team and customer network have been building quickly and we are very optimistic about the expansion and growth opportunities developing in the US sports betting market. We realized that to effectively compete and grow with this opportunity we needed a viable technology partner that knows the sports betting business extremely well.
“We believe the timing of this acquisition is ideal for USB since we have been vetting the technology field for the best sports betting technology while getting ready for the reopening of our clients as the COVID pandemic subsides. The addition of a proprietary sports betting platform will allow USB to customize features that our clients desire while having full control of our cost structure.”
Michele Ciavarella, Executive Chairman of Elys said: “Our team at Elys has worked diligently to prepare our leading-edge platform for the booming opportunity in the US market. Our focus has been to ensure that our future US clients are able to access a design-built solution for sports betting in the US that is locally supported with comprehensive trading, risk management, operations and maintenance teams for frictionless deployments.
“We are extremely pleased with the relationship that we developed with the founders and highly-experienced team at USB during our negotiations and the extensive synergies that we believe the combined entities have. We found great commonality between the family culture that Elys fosters in its Italian operations, as with USB and its business operations spanning a number of states in the US.
“We believe that our Elys Gameboard technology will give USB the tools they need to rapidly expand their current US footprint and potentially develop operations in the evolving Canadian sports betting market.”
What is US Bookmaking?
Founded in 2016, USB aims to provide sports betting services such as consultation and design, risk management, and turn-key sports betting solutions.
The firm is led by president Victor Salerno, who has over 40 years of experience working in the Nevada sports betting market, and chief executive Bob Kocienski who also has more than 40 years of industry experience.
USB’s works with a list of clients across the US including the Sky Ute property in Colorado, and the Santa Ana Star Casino, Isleta Resort & Casino, and Santa Claran Hotel & Casino in New Mexico.
The business also has agreements in place with the Odawa Tribe in Michigan and the 4 Bears Tribe in North Dakota. USB also has a service agreement in Washington DC, where it plans to launch later this year.
Recently, USB agreed on a B2C leasing deal for an online sports betting skin in the state of Iowa.