On March 12, the Gauselmann Group announced that they have acquired a significant majority stake in Bede Gaming. Bede develops and markets online gaming platforms for casino operators, sports betting platforms, and lottery offerings operators.
Gauselmann Group plan to launch their new online gaming market in Germany in 2021. This creates new opportunities ahead of that release according to CEO and founder Paul Gauselmann:
“Bede’s technological expertise is very impressive and its highly complex solutions are the first choice for leading gaming companies not only in the UK but around the world. This acquisition will allow us to significantly broaden the existing technology base within the Group and at the same time enable us to offer it to our customers and partners.”
According to the agreement, Gauselmann Group will further expand its operations into the North American lottery market using its partnership with Bede Gaming, who has a partnership with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).
In discussing the acquisition, Bede Gaming Chairman Joe Saumarez-Smith added, “We are delighted that the Gauselmann Group has acquired a majority stake in Bede. Gauselmann’s long-term prospects and financial strength will allow us to further enhance our range of products and services to existing customers as well as win new business partners.”
Bede Gaming will act as an independent business unit inside the Gauselmann Group. They are expected to keep their Newcastle offices as well as those in Sofia and Toronto. The acquisition also enables the management staff to maintain their stake in the company.
Several prominent groups acted as advisors in the acquisition, including Oakvale Capital (finances), CMS (legal) und BDO (taxes) for Bede Gaming and Addleshaw Goddard (legal) and Grant Thornton (taxes/finances) for the Gauselmann Group.
This is the first significant acquisition by the Gauselmann Group since March 2019, when they acquired the Totolotek sports betting operation. At the time of the acquisition, Totolotek had 260 retail points of sale as well as its popular online and mobile betting operations. This acquisition was seen as an opportunity to expand operations for the Gauselmann Group beyond Poland, moving into Germany, Denmark, Austria, and Belgium.
