Flutter Entertainment will acquire Snaitech, one of Italy’s largest gambling companies, for €2.3 billion ($2.6 billion), including debt, from gambling technology group Playtech.
The acquisition will strengthen Flutter’s position as the leading gambling firm in Italy.
The deal is expected to close by the second quarter of 2025 and will immediately add to Flutter’s earnings per share, the company said. This acquisition will allow Playtech to focus more on its business-to-business software operations.
Italy is the largest gambling market in Europe, although online penetration remains behind other countries such as the UK and Australia.
This acquisition marks Flutter’s second major deal within a week. Last Friday, the company announced it would acquire a 56% stake in Brazil’s NSX Group, the operator of Betnacional, for $350 million as it seeks to expand in the soon-to-be-regulated Brazilian market.
Flutter, the world’s largest gambling company, has been pursuing an aggressive international expansion strategy, particularly in the U.S., where it has seen a surge in new customers and revenue. The company, whose brands include Paddy Power and Poker Stars, moved its primary listing to New York from London earlier this year.
The acquisition will boost Flutter’s market share in Italy to about 30% when combined with its existing operations, which include Sisal, one of Italy’s largest online gambling operators.
According to Berenberg, Italy’s gambling market dynamics feature a high spend per adult as a percentage of GDP and a growing share of online revenue from mobile devices. Recent regulatory reforms in Italy are expected to provide stability in the online gambling sector over the next nine years, particularly in areas such as taxation.
Playtech, which operates in 19 countries, reported that its consumer-facing unit, Snaitech, generated €946.6 million in revenue last year. Discussions between Flutter and Playtech regarding Snaitech have been ongoing since August.
In the B2C segment, Playtech focused on its Italy-facing Snaitech brand, which showed strong performance in both online and retail betting segments. Despite tough comparatives from the previous year, which saw pent-up demand post-football World Cup, Snaitech maintained strong wagering volumes.
However, player-friendly sporting results in Italy partially offset these strong volumes. Playtech remains well-positioned to benefit from the structural shift to higher-margin online business in the country.
