Lottomatica to Issue €500M in Debt Bonds and Borrow €50M to Fund the SKS365 Deal

Earlier this month, Lottomatica, an Italian gaming giant, announced its plans to acquire 100% of SKS365’s share capital. The deal, which values the latter business at €639 million ($702 million) was signed recently and, if cleared by all relevant regulators, is set to close in the first half of 2024.

As a result of this major move, Lottomatia announced its plans to issue €500 million (approximately $549.1 million) in debt notes to fund the agreement. A first row of floating rate senior secured notes will be issued, followed by a second tranche of fixed rate senior secured notes. The latter notes will have a fixed rate of 7.125%. The move is also part of a €565 million 7.125% Senior Secured Notes due 2028 bond.

The division between the two bonds is yet to be announced and will likely be communicated once Lottomatica closes the deal or around the date of the completion.

In addition to that, Lottomatica has secured revolving credit cash borrowing of €50 million (roughly $55 million), under an existing revolving credit agreement.

The money Lottomatica secures through the notes and borrowings will allow it to fully fund the SKS365 purchase deal and cover all applicable fees and costs.

Lottomatica Is Looking Forward to Closing the Deal

Lottomatica will acquire SKS365 through its wholly-owned subsidiary CBO Spa. The successful deal comes in the wake of a failed takeover attempt by Playtech, which gave up on acquiring SKS365 recently. At the time, Flutter Entertainment was also rumored to be eyeing a takeover of SKS365’s business.

Guglielmo Angelozzi, Lottomatica’s chief executive officer, believes that the acquisition of SKS365 will provide CBO and Lottomatica with a major boost in Italy. As a company with over 1,000 shops and a significant online presence, SKS365 is an undeniably popular brand among local customers.

Angelozzi praised SKS365 as a top performer and lauded the efforts of its management team, which turned it into a local powerhouse.

Alexander Martin, SKS365’s CEO, also commented on the matter earlier, saying that his team is glad to join the Lottomatica family and believes that it could not have found a better acquisition partner.

For reference, SKS365 operates brands such as PlanetWin365 and PlanetPay365 in addition to running retail operations. Furthermore, the company has been decorated as one of Italy’s top employers for 2023.