Antitrust approval received for acquisition of STS

Entain PLC

12 July 2023

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER STATE OR JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

12 July 2023

Entain plc

Antitrust approval received for Entain CEE acquisition of STS

Entain plc (LSE: ENT), the global sports-betting, gaming and interactive entertainment group ("Entain" or the "Group"), is pleased to announce that Entain Holdings (CEE) Ltd. ("Entain CEE") has received antitrust approval from the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection for its acquisition of STS Holding S.A. ("STS"), the leading sports-betting operator in Poland. As such, the antitrust condition to the tender offer for STS (the "Offer"), as referred to in Entain's acquisition announcement of 13 June 2023, has been satisfied.

The remaining condition of the Offer is to receive acceptances representing at least 50% of the shares in STS.  As previously announced, the Juroszek Foundations have made irrevocable undertakings to tender their c.70% shareholding into the Offer, and therefore the acceptance threshold will be met.  The acceptance period for the Offer will commence on 14 July 2023 and is due to close in mid-August, with the closing of the transaction expected shortly thereafter.

Contact details

Entain plc

Investor Relations - Entain plc David Lloyd-Seed, Chief IR & Communications Officer Davina Hobbs, Head of Investor Relations Aimee Remey, VP US Investor Relations Callum Sims, IR Manager	[e-mail]
Media - Entain plc Lisa Attenborough, Head of Corporate Communications Jay Dossetter, Head of Corporate PR Jodie Hitch, PR Manager	[e-mail]

Morgan Stanley (Lead Financial Adviser and Joint Corporate Broker)
Laurence Hopkins

Pawel Dela

Tom Perry
Tel: [phone]

BofA Securities (Financial Adviser and Joint Corporate Broker)

Ed Peel

James Robertson

Tel: [phone]

Media - Powerscourt
Rob Greening / Nick Hayns / Sam Austrums
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

Contact for Polish Investors - Trigon Dom Maklerski S.A. (Polish Tender Offer Intermediary)

Jan Rekowski
Tel: [phone]

LEI: 213800GNI3K45LQR8L28

About Entain plc

Entain plc (LSE: ENT) is a FTSE100 company and is one of the world's largest sports betting and gaming groups, operating both online and in the retail sector. The Group owns a comprehensive portfolio of established brands; Sports brands include BetCity, bwin, Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet, Ladbrokes, Neds, Sportingbet, Sports Interaction and SuperSport; Gaming brands include Foxy Bingo, Gala, GiocoDigitale, Ninja Casino, Optibet, Partypoker and PartyCasino. The Group owns proprietary technology across all its core product verticals and in addition to its B2C operations provides services to a number of third-party customers on a B2B basis.

The Group has a 50/50 joint venture, BetMGM, a leader in sports betting and iGaming in the US. Entain provides the technology and capabilities which power BetMGM as well as exclusive games and products, specially developed at its in-house gaming studios. The Group is tax resident in the UK and is the only global operator to exclusively operate in domestically regulated or regulating markets operating in over 40 territories.

Entain is a leader in ESG, a member of FTSE4Good, the DJSI and is AA rated by MSCI. The Group has set a science-based target, committing to be carbon net zero by 2035 and through the Entain Foundation supports a variety of initiatives, focusing on safer gambling, grassroots sport, diversity in technology and community projects. For more information see the Group's website: www.entaingroup.com

About STS

STS is the leading omnichannel player in the high-growth and regulated Polish market. The company has a diverse product portfolio with a focus on high-growth categories including: sportsbetting, betgames, virtual sports and e-sport (STS was the first bookmaker in Poland to introduce this). As at the end of 2022, STS has c.2m registered players and 783k active users. STS has a robust financial growth profile achieving +24% net gaming revenue CAGR and +34% adjusted EBITDA CAGR since 2020. STS is led by CEO Mateusz Juroszek who has significant experience in the Polish gaming and broader CEE market.

Important notices

This Announcement is for information only and does not itself constitute or form part of an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for securities referred to herein in any jurisdiction including, without limitation, the United States, any other Restricted Territory (as defined below) or in any jurisdiction where such offer or solicitation is unlawful. No public offering of securities will be made in connection with any securities referred herein in the United Kingdom, the United States, any other Restricted Territory or elsewhere.

This Announcement is restricted and is not for publication, release, distribution or forwarding, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States of America (including its territories and possessions, any  state of the United States and the District of Columbia (collectively, the "United States"), Australia, Canada, the Republic of South Africa, Japan (each a "Restricted Territory") or any other jurisdiction in which such release, publication, distribution or forwarding would be unlawful. No public offering of the securities referred to herein is being made in any such jurisdiction or elsewhere. This information has not been approved by the London Stock Exchange, nor is it intended to be so approved.

The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States, and may not be offered, sold or transferred directly or indirectly in or into the United States, except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and in compliance with the securities laws of any state or any other jurisdiction of the United States. No public offering of any securities referred to herein is being made in the United States.

Persons distributing this Announcement must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so. This Announcement is for information purposes only and shall not constitute an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy, subscribe for or otherwise acquire securities in any jurisdiction. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of the securities laws of such jurisdictions. 

No offering document or prospectus will be made available in any jurisdiction in connection with the matters contained or referred to in this Announcement and no such offering document or prospectus is required (in accordance with the EU Prospectus Regulation or UK Prospectus Regulation) to be published.

Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements, including with respect to Entain's expectations, intentions and projections regarding its future performance, strategic initiatives, anticipated events or trends and other matters that are not historical facts and which are, by their nature, inherently predictive, speculative and involve risks and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about operating performance, strategic initiatives, objectives, market position, industry trends, general economic conditions, expected expenditures, expected cost savings and financial results are forward‐looking statements. Any statements contained in this announcement that are not statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward‐looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which may use words such as "aim", "anticipate", "believe", "could", "intend", "estimate", "expect", "may", "plan", "project" or words or terms of similar meaning or the negative thereof, are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. There are a number of factors including, but not limited to, commercial, operational, economic and financial factors, that could cause actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond Entain's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as changes in taxation or fiscal policy, future market conditions, currency fluctuations, the behaviour of other market participants, the actions of governments or governmental regulators, or other risk factors, such as changes in the political, social and regulatory framework in which Entain operates or in economic or technological trends or conditions, including inflation, recession and consumer confidence, on a global, regional or national basis. Given those risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Entain and its affiliates, and any of its or their respective directors, officers, partners, employees, advisers or agents (collectively, "Representatives") expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required to do so by applicable law or regulation.

In particular, no statement in this announcement is intended to be a profit forecast or profit estimate and no statement of a financial metric (including estimates of EBITDA, profit before tax, free cash flow or net debt) should be interpreted to mean that any financial metric for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published position of Entain and its subsidiaries. Certain statements in this announcement may contain estimates. The estimates set out in this announcement have been prepared based on numerous assumptions and forecasts, some of which are outside of Entain's influence and/or control, and is therefore inherently uncertain and there can be no guarantee or assurance that it will be correct. The estimates have not been audited, reviewed, verified or subject to any procedures by Entain's auditors. Undue reliance should not be placed on them and there can be no guarantee or assurance that they will be correct.

This announcement is being issued by and is the sole responsibility of Entain. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by or on behalf of Entain (apart from the responsibilities or liabilities that may be imposed by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended or the regulatory regime established thereunder) or by its affiliates or any of its Representatives as to, or in relation to, the accuracy, adequacy, fairness or completeness of this announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers or any other statement made or purported to be made by or on behalf of Entain or any of its affiliates or any of its Representatives in connection with Entain and any responsibility and liability whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise therefore is expressly disclaimed.

Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc ("Morgan Stanley"), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting exclusively as financial adviser to Entain and no one else in connection with the Acquisition. In connection with such matters, Morgan Stanley, its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents will not regard any other person as their client, nor will they be responsible to anyone other than Entain for providing the protections afforded to clients of Morgan Stanley nor for providing advice in connection with the Acquisition, the contents of this announcement or any matter referred to herein.

Merrill Lynch International ("BofA Securities"), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority in the UK, is acting as corporate broker and financial adviser exclusively for Entain and for no one else in connection with the matters referred to in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Entain for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the matters referred to in this announcement. Neither BofA Securities, nor any of its affiliates, owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person who is not a client of BofA Securities in connection with this announcement, any statement contained herein or otherwise.

 

END