Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment has completed the purchase of Italian online betting group Sisal from private equity company CVC for €1.9 billion.
Announced last December, the deal for the Milan-based company has now received “all necessary regulatory confirmations”, Flutter said in a statement on Friday.
The betting giant said the debt-funded acquisition is “aligned to the group’s strategy of investing to build leadership positions in regulated markets”.
Italy is the second-biggest regulated gambling market in Europe behind the UK.
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‘I could have gone to California. At this rate, I probably would have raised about half a billion dollars’
Combined with its PokerStars and Betfair, both popular in Italy, the purchase of Sisal gives Flutter a market share of about 20 per cent of the Italian market.
Sisal has “performed strongly since the transaction was announced” Flutter said, with year-on-year growth of 58 per cent in revenue to £402 million (€477.7 million) during the first half the year.
Earlier this month, ratings agency Fitch downgraded its outlook for Flutter from “stable” to “negative”, largely due to concerns about the acquisition of Sisal.
Fitch analysts said the large debt-funded acquisition would “materially slow deleveraging”, increase Flutter’s debt quantum and negatively impact its long-term issuer default rating.
