The ZEAL Network, a lottery brokerage operator, has revealed the details of their all-share voluntary takeover offer for Lotto24, their former subsidiary.
Lotto24 shareholders are being offered 1 Zeal share in exchange for 1.604 shares of Lotto 24. They have until April 10 to decide on the offer.
This is pretty much a done deal, as Zeal claims to control approximately 65% of Lotto24 shares already. The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority has also pre-approved the offer prior to the details being revealed.
Zeal is excited about the deal, as they’ve previously noted they expect it to be of great value to their shareholders. Dr. Helmut Becker, CEO of Zeal, is urging Lotto24 shareholders to accept the offer so they can be welcomed back into the fold, and called it an “exciting journey.”
“Lotto24 has successfully grown its market share in the German online lottery market to 34% in 2018. Together, we will build on this position, and our combined scale and technology capability to further expand our joint business,” according to the CEO.
Assuming the deal gets finalized, Zeal expects it would grow their billing to around €500 million ($574.4 million) and their customer footprint to approximately 5 million.
Zeal plunges ahead with the offer thanks to 60% shareholder vote in favor of the deal. There is a vocal minority fighting against it however. Lottoland CEO Nigel Birrell, who is also a shareholder of Zeal, has repeatedly opposed the acquisition, believing that the only people this deal benefits are those already invested in Lotto24.
Birrell has offered to buy Zeal assets as an alternative to a merger with their former subsidiary, but was rebuffed for the attempt. It didn’t help his case that he’s barely hid his ultimate intention of looking for merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities for Lottoland.
The fat lady looks like she’s about to sing on this takeover, so it appears Birrell will have to look elsewhere for new M&A opportunities.
