Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment has agreed to buy Italian company Snaitech in a deal worth about €2.3 billion.
Snaitech is one of Italy’s leading business-to-consumer operators, and is a subsidiary of Playtech. The acquisition of the company, which is expected to close by the second quarter of 2025, is in line with Flutter’s international market investment strategy.
Snaitech is currently the third top operator in the Italian market, with just under 10 per cent market share and 291,000 average monthly players. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) was €256 million in its 2023 financial year, with 100 per cent regulated revenue of €947 million.
The deal will give Flutter an online share or about 30 per cent, with operating cost synergies of €70 million or more.
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Italy is Europe’s largest regulated gambling market, but its online penetration remains low. That provides Flutter with an opportunity to take advantage of the expected swing to digital, with the online market there expected to grow 10 per cent over the next three years.
[ Paddy Power owner weighs a €2.3bn Italian betOpens in new window ]
“This transaction is compelling strategically and financially. It fits perfectly within our strategy for value-creating M&A and creates a significant opportunity to accelerate Snai’s growth by providing them with access to Flutter’s market-leading products and capabilities both in the US and globally,” said Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson.
“I look forward to welcoming the Snai team to the Flutter Group and working with them to maximise the growth opportunity for our combined businesses.”
“Given the importance of dominant market positions, the additional exposure to the attractive Italian market and the quantum of the synergies, we believe this deal will be well received by the market,” Davy analysts including Paul Ruddy said in a research note. “Post this transaction and the recent deal in Brazil, Flutter will be in the enviable position of having number 1 or podium positions in most of the world’s regulated gambling markets,” they added.
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