NYX Gaming buys OpenBet For £270m, sells Ongame Poker Network

NYX Gaming Group Limited has purchased business-to-business sportsbook and digital gaming supplier OpenBet for £270 million.

There are still some formalities before the deal is official, such as stock-exchange agreements and regulatory approvals. But these conditions are expected to be met by May, which would complete one of the largest iGaming transactions in history.

OpenBet is one of the early pioneers of online sports betting, having launched in 1996. The London-based firm has since grown to become the largest business-to-business sportsbook, handling over one billion bets a year.

William Hill and Sky Betting are also involved with NYX Gaming in the transaction “through a preferred equity investment of £100 million in aggregate to partially fund the transaction.” William Hill will help NYX and OpenBet in a three-year program “to further modernize OpenBet’s technology” and create £10.0 million in EBITDA to NYX Gaming.

NYX released a statement that “the transaction will together two of the world’s most established and proven suppliers to create an organization that will deliver the leading end to end solution for regulated gaming markets. The combined strength of the two businesses will provide customers around the globe with betting and gaming solutions across all channels.”

Matt Davey, CEO of NYX Gaming, believes that the acquisition of OpenBet is perfect for his company because their offerings and technology compliment each other well. Davey said, “[The transaction] positions NYX as the leading provider of B2B betting and gaming solutions on a global scale. We are looking forward to working with OpenBet and their customers to help them to deliver world-class experiences to their players.”

In another deal involving NYX, they have sold the Ongame poker network to an unnamed buyer. Purchased from Amaya Gaming in 2014, Ongame, which features over a dozen poker sites, has seen its traffic continually decline over the past two years.

According to PokerNews, the company has not released many details on this sale, though, because they are mostly focused on completing the OpenBet sale.

Thomas Huw, NYX Chief Corporate Development and Marketing Officer, merely said that “a partner with proven experience in the industry will take on all costs, customer contracts and development for the poker product. NYX will retain both a significant share of the new business and exclusive rights to use the poker product across North America.”