Catena Media acquires affiliate network in Italy and Belgium

Catena Media continues to strengthen its position as Europe’s fastest growing company in lead generation through the acquisition of a number of casino comparison websites. The network operates in new markets for Catena Media that are regulated and have licensed operators.

The Network in question was previously owned and run by one Belgian and two Swedish individuals with extensive experience in the gambling industry. Through this acquisition, Catena Media is expanding its geographic reach to include gambling portals that are focussed on Belgium and Italy. The websites focus on casino comparison and revenue is generated solely from regulated markets with licensed operators.

“The portfolio that we are acquiring has agreements with licensed operators in regulated markets and is an excellent fit with Catena Media’s existing portfolio. It is fully in line with our previously announced strategy of moving into new markets and of growing through acquisitions,” says Robert Andersson, CEO of Catena Media.

The portfolio being acquired is expected to generate sales of approximately EUR 300,000 in the first quarter of 2016 and a pre-tax profit margin of about 80%. In total, the network creates about 1,000 new depositing customers each month.

The purchase price for the acquisition is EUR 3,000,000, which is being paid as a cash consideration in conjunction with the transfer of the assets. In addition, there is an earnout amount payable to the sellers based on revenue generated over the next two years. The earnout amount will not be higher than the revenue generated and is capped at EUR 3,000,000 per year, with a maximum total earnout of EUR 6,000,000. This entails that the sellers will continue to work with the websites for a period of at least two years.

“It is extremely exciting to start this collaboration with Catena Media and, at the same time, to continue working with the team we have built up over a number of years,” says Eric Stööp, one of the owners of the websites that Catena Media is currently acquiring.

The agreement was signed on 13 March 2016 and the takeover of the websites will be done immediately. All revenue generated by the portfolio in March will accrue to Catena Media.

About Catena Media

Catena Media was founded in 2012 and is engaged in online performance marketing and lead generation and is almost exclusively active within the iGaming industry. The group thereby attracts users from multiple online and mobile channels and directs them to the group’s B2B customers mainly consisting of iGaming operators. The group focuses on the iGaming industry, and primarily on iGaming operators who operate online casinos on their own websites. iGaming operators typically use a network of marketing partners, known as affiliates, to promote their products and services and thus attract more end users to their websites. iGaming operators remunerate the affiliates for each end-user they refer to them, through such websites as www.johnslots.com/sv/ and www.rightcasino.com. The group’s Core Focus Markets are Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The group has approximately 80 employees and has its registered office in Sliema, Malta.

For more information

Robert Andersson, CEO, +356 770 329 28 Patrik Bloch, CFO, +356 995 502 46 www.catenamedia.com

The information was submitted for publication at 08.00 CET on 14 March 2016. Avanza is the Company’s Certified Advisor.