Endeavor Putting OpenBet and IMG Arena for Sale

Endeavor, a talent and media holding form, has confirmed that it will be divesting OpenBet and IMG Arena, and is attempting to sell the assets. This process began during the second quarter and the search for a buyer is ongoing.

Oakvale Capital, a top iGaming M&A firm, is facilitating the search for potential buyers. As an industry-leading advisory business specializing in the gambling, sports, and mobile games sectors, Oakvale has successfully advised on over 30 major gaming transactions since 2018 under the leadership of Daniel Burns and Sandford Loudon.

Endeavor Readies to Divest Key Assets Amid Big Takeover

In the meantime, the company has also chosen to separate the businesses from its financial reporting when presenting investors with quarterly and annual results. OpenBet and IMG Arena may not be the only assets for sale, however, as other options are being explored.

It’s worth noting that before exploring a sale, Endeavor embarked on a consolidation move, concentrating its tech and data business under the OpenBet brand, and only two years after the company originally bought out the brand from Light & Wonder in a monumental $1.2bn dealmaking at the time.

At the time, the acquisition of OpenBet was meant to bolster Endeavor’s ambitions for the sports betting sector, but this has mostly petered out in the shifting market realities. Part of this change could be dictated by the wishes of Silver Lake.

Yet, OpenBet CEO Jordan Levin is confident that despite any imminent changes in leadership, the company will continue to be a fixture in the vertical and continue to drive strong results.

The second-quarter update of the company outlined the plans for the sale and fleshed out the need to move forward with such a deal in broad strokes, listing the businesses that are being sold, i.e. OpenBet and IMG Arena, Held for Sale, and that the Sports Data & Technology segment is now listed as discontinued operations.

Not much else is available in the update, as a buyer has not been found just yet, and the company will continue to look for one. Any relevant updates will be shared with the public when and if they become available. Endeavor’s own going-private deal has not been easy either, with challenges emerging.

OpenBet Continues to Change Ownerships over the Years

OpenBet has been a famously slippery asset. Although the business has been gathering steam, especially in the age of regulated sports gambling, it has been often in the habit of changing hands. It was founded in 1996 as Orbit Technology and was first bought out in 2000 by NDS Group.

The company was rechristened to OpenBet a decade later in 2011, sold off to Vitruvian Partners, and changed hands to NYX Gaming in 2016. OpenBet is a well-established firm with a good lineage and standing in the industry, and it similarly maintains an ample list of clients, among which are DraftKings, Paddy Power, PointsBet, Super Group, FanDuel, BetMGM, and William Hill.