Czech Republic gaming operator Sazka Group has acquired Croatia’s largest sports betting operator SuperSport.
Last Friday, the Sazka Group announced that it had bought a controlling stake in SuperSport, Crotia’s leading online and land-based sports betting operator in revenue terms. The price Sazka paid to SuperSport owner Danko Ćorić to complete the transaction wasn’t disclosed.
Sazka Group CEO Robert Chvátal celebrated the acquisition as a way to “gain access to an attractive market” while also strengthening Sazka’s position “in the dynamic sports betting sector via the internet.”
SuperSport began life in 2000 and quickly established itself as a major player in Crotia’s legal gaming market with over 300 retail betting shops and an online sportsbook. An online casino site launched in 2016, and the market’s first locally licensed online poker site followed in 2017. The company has a payroll of roughly 1k staff and its Croatian betting license is valid until 2025.
Local media reported that SuperSport generated annual revenue of HRK400m (US$64.5m) and a net profit of HRK170m in its most recent results, although this was down from the HRK480m in revenue the company generated in 2014.
SuperSport has reportedly been shedding market share to local rival Prva Sportska Kladionica, an offshoot of Hattrick Sports, which was acquired by Sazka’s Czech rival Fortuna Entertainment Group in 2017 for €135m.
The Sazka Group’s existing portfolio includes the Sazka lottery and betting operations in the Czech Republic, as well as significant stakes in Italy’s Lottoitalia, Austrian Lotteries, Casinos Austria and Greek betting and lottery operator OPAP.
Sazka Group revenue hit €1.13b in 2017, 177% higher than the year before, primarily due to the consolidation of OPAP’s operations for the entire year. Earnings rose a similarly extravagant 165% to €353.4m while after-tax profit gained 105% to €189.5m.
