Sep 22, 2021

Share: The sports betting market continues to see new players emerge as casino and sports-related companies look to take advantage of the growing market. With the increased number of players, it becomes likely consolidation will happen. It has already started in 2021 and looks ready to heat up, particularly with the announced talks on Tuesday between two companies. What Happened: Online sports betting giant Draftkings Inc (NASDAQ: DKNG ) confirmed it made a bid to acquire Entain ADR (OTC: GMVHY ), a European-based betting company. The reported price tag of $20 billion includes cash and DraftKings shares and is a premium to the $18 billion valuation Entain had prior to the news. Entain owns brands like Eurobet, bwin, Ladbrokes, partypoker and PartyCasino and is one of the largest sports betting companies in the world. The company has licenses in 20 countries on five continents. Entain also is a 50% owner of BetMGM, a joint venture with MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM ) which owns the other 50%. MGM Resorts attempted to acquire Entain earlier this year with bids of $10 billion and $11 billion. Entain said at the time that the bid from MGM “significantly undervalues” the company’s assets. A statement was issued from MGM Resorts International confirming they were aware of DraftKings’ potential offer for Entain. “MGM is Entain’s exclusive partner in the U.S. online sports betting and iGaming market through our highly successful 50/50 joint venture BetMGM LLC,” the company said. MGM said it would have to consent to any transaction involving a competitor owning Entain and the joint venture. “MGM believes that having control of the BetMGM joint venture is an important step towards achieving its strategic objectives.” MGM will work with Entain and DraftKings on a solution going forward, the company added.