Leading Chinese online sports lottery provider 500.com has entered into a share purchase agreement with Mulitlotto operator The Multi Group Ltd to acquire approximately 93% of The Multi Group’s outstanding shares.
Multilotto, which is headquartered in Malta, is considered one of the top online lottery betting and online casino platforms in the Nordic countries where it holds substantial market share, as well as eyeing expansion further afield across Europe.
The deal is to be worth around US$56 million.
Multi Group was recently granted remote gambling licenses from Malta, remote operating licenses from the UK and a remote bookmaker’s license from Ireland, which will further strengthen its market position and ability to rapidly expand into new geographic regions. Multilotto does not accept bets from US or PRC residents, including from Hong Kong and Macau.
Multilotto offers players the ability to bet on the outcomes of 11 of the world’s largest lotteries through its proprietary and scalable platform. Leveraging its adaptable state-of-the-art technology and proprietary financial hedging solution, Mulilotto is able to tightly control risk, handle significant betting volumes and offer a broad portfolio of products, allowing it to customize its platform and products to new markets and jurisdictions.
In 2015, its first year of operations, The Multi Group generated unaudited net revenue of US$4.5 million, net profit of US$1.4 million and EBITDA of US$1.4 million. Those figures rose to US$11.2 million in revenue, US$6.1 million in profit and US$6.4 million in EBITDA in 2016.
500.com Limited was among the first companies to provide online lottery services in China and is one of two entities that have been approved by the Ministry of Finance to provide online lottery sales services on behalf of the China Sports Lottery Administration Center, which is the government authority that is in charge of the issuance and sale of sports lottery products in China.
