Entain CEO Gavin Isaacs has said the operator won’t give assets away, after rebuffing offers for Georgia-facing Crystalbet and electing to retain the brand.
In May, Crystalbet was singled out by Entain’s Capital Allocation Committee as “non-core” to the group and subsequently put up for sale.
At the time, Entain reported it had already received interest from potential suitors and that discussions were ongoing.
However, as part of the FTSE 100 operator’s Q3 earnings release, management confirmed they had elected not to pursue a sale.
A statement included in the report read: “Crystalbet is Georgia’s leading sports betting and gaming brand with strong growth and cash generation. Third-party interest did not exceed its value to Entain as an attractive part of our global portfolio.”
Entain initially acquired a 51% stake in Crystalbet six years ago, before snapping up the remainder of the business in 2021.
Giving further colour to the decision to retain the brand, which faces off against Flutter Entertainment’s Adjarabet in Georgia, Isaacs said Entain’s valuation had not been met.
Speaking on an analyst call, the CEO remarked: “Entain has undergone a strategic reset and that strategy is bearing fruit.
“Part of that included a review of our assets and strategic alternatives for our portfolio. Crystalbet has been singled out; it is an attractive asset, and after assessing the market, we have concluded that the business is more valuable to the group remaining as part of our portfolio.
“We will continue to assess all our portfolio. We will only sell assets at a proper valuation, and if it makes strategic sense.”
Reports earlier this year from the FT claimed Entain was willing to sell the brands that did not run off of its core tech platform, including Crystalbet, Ladbrokes Australia, Nordic brand Enlabs and BetCity.
However, Isaacs, who officially began his tenure as CEO at the start of September, appeared to put distance between himself and that line of thinking.
He also noted that should other parties be interested in acquiring Entain assets, he would not approve cut-price deals and only sanction sales at an appropriate market value.
Isaacs added: “In relation to Crystalbet, frankly, for what we were seeing as the offers, we just decided that it was not worth selling at those prices, and we decided to keep it.
“It’s a good performing business, and it’s very low maintenance. It is on its own platform. If in the future, people come along with offers for parts of our portfolio. We will assess those.
“We will not give them away. If there are proper valuations and they strategically make sense for us, we’ll contemplate dispositions. But right now, our main focus is getting the organic growth firing up.”
During the same call, Entain CFO Rob Wood also revealed that Crystalbet’s NGR in Q3 was up by double-digits year on year (YoY).
Overall, Entain’s group NGR was up 8% YoY driven by gains in Brazil with Sportingbet and its North America JV, BetMGM.
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