Consolidation remains a constant industry theme, headlined last year by Flutter Entertainment shelling out €2.3bn for Snaitech and FDJ United gobbling up Kindred Group in a transaction worth €2.45bn. The appetite for blockbuster M&A hasn’t waned in 2025 either, with Intralot completing a €2.7bn acquisition of Bally’s International Interactive in October and, just days later, Allwyn announcing it is to merge with subsidiary OPAP to create a €16bn lottery and igaming powerhouse.
Not to be outdone, Banijay Group revealed on 28 October it is to acquire leading Germany- and Austria-facing operator Tipico and its Admiral business. The French giant will bolster its gambling arm, Banijay Gaming, by taking a 65% controlling stake in Tipico from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. The transaction, worth €3bn, values Banijay’s Betclic at €4.8bn and Tipico at €4.6bn. As part of the deal, Banijay will divest its 53.9% stake in online German and Austrian brand bet-at-home.
The financial upside from the combination is substantial, according to Banijay’s projections. Group revenue is forecast to double following the deal’s completion, potentially reaching upwards of €3bn (Banijay will retain its media and TV production unit). Post-transaction, the gaming division will account for 47% of the business, compared with 30% previously, based on 2024 pro forma revenue. Meanwhile, adjusted EBITDA is projected to reach €854m, with around €100m worth of annual synergies generated by 2028.
Management has said the enlarged gaming enterprise will become the fourth largest public sports betting and igaming operator in Europe – bettered only by Flutter Entertainment, Entain and Lottomatica – in addition to becoming the “leader of sports betting in continental Europe”. The deal is expected to close by mid-2026.
Market forces
Both companies bring a lot to the table. Betclic, which generated revenue of €1.4bn revenue in 2024, is the sports betting market leader in France, Portugal and the Ivory Coast, while it holds the number two spot in both France and Poland for online poker and sports betting. Betclic also leads online casino in both Portugal and the Ivory Coast. Meanwhile, Tipico, which posted revenue (including Admiral) of €1.6bn in 2024, is the biggest bookmaker in Germany and Austria, supported by a substantial retail estate consisting of more than 1,250 betting shops.
Tipico has been plotting international expansion for the last few years (besides its failed foray into the US), as CEO Axel Hefer told EGR immediately after the announcement. “When I joined Tipico in 2023, it was clear we needed to expand again,” he said. Heffer, who will remain in charge of Malta-based Tipico, added: “The scale and the setup of the new group give us a lot of opportunities to expand even more aggressively than we have in the past.”
Speaking to EGR on condition of anonymity, a German igaming expert suggests Tipico will put Banijay in a different league in Germany. “Bet-at-home is simply not comparable [to Tipico] with its small single-digit market share in Germany,” the source says.
“Bet-at-home was more of an online casino company, and that product was the most affected by regulation in Germany with so many product restrictions. Tipico, however, was always, at least in terms of revenue, a 70% sports betting, 30% online casino company and was therefore less affected by the German regulation.”
Germany’s market regulated in 2021 when the Interstate Treaty on Gambling came into force, yet licensed operators remain hamstrung by a host of restrictions, including a €1,000 monthly deposit limit and a €1 stake limit on online slots (taxed at 5.3% of turnover). It’s hampered the legal market and seen offshore operators pounce. However, Tipico has been able to maintain its dominance in the regulated arena. This resilient stronghold in the face of regulatory headwinds would have made the firm an attractive asset for Banijay.
Alun Bowden, senior vice-president of strategic insight at boutique analyst firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, says Banijay also has to cope with markets with tough regulatory regimes (France, Portugal and Poland). “Banijay has good experience of operating in high-tax markets, and it feels a good strategic combination in terms of approach and geographies. There will most definitely be some synergy savings to be had, too, which is the name of the game in 2025.”
Combining Tipico’s retail strength with Betclic’s online reach will provide both with opportunities they otherwise might not have had access to. In a note following the announcement of the deal, independent research firm Regulus Partners remarked on the “highly complementary” nature of the two businesses, noting their similarities as local hero specialists in markets “heavily distorted by tax and regulation”.
Such local hero specialisation could be key to navigating increasingly challenging regulatory conditions across Europe. This is something Banijay has experienced first-hand in France, for example, where tax on online sports betting rose from 54.9% to 59.3% of gross gambling revenue (GGR) from 1 July 2025. Regulus Partners suggested both companies “need a portfolio to manage risk while sharing complementary products, skill sets and cultures”.
It is a view shared at the very top of the business, with Hefer pointing to the cultural and operational similarities between the two. “It was clear before we did the heavy lifting that there was a good cultural fit,” he said in October. “I think Nicolas [Béraud – Betclic founder and CEO] is a great operator, and they’ve built great technology. We saw a very good personal fit, but also a strategic fit with Betclic.” As of 1 January 2026, Béraud will become chair of Banijay Gaming, while Betclic COO Julien Brun will take over as CEO.
According to Banijay, the combined entity will surpass the likes of FDJ United, Allwyn and evoke in terms of revenue and put more distance between itself and Betsson AB and Rank Group (bet365 was strangely absent from Banijay’s pecking order slide). This slide prompted Bowden to take to LinkedIn to declare a “new European order” and note the deal underlines a shift in the sphere of influence away from the UK and Scandinavia.
Following up that point, he tells EGR: “The landscape of the European gambling world has changed dramatically over the last few years. The UK and the Nordics used to be the base of power and influence, but that is increasingly no longer the case, with the big UK companies subsumed into global operators with a focus on the US and other growth markets and many of the Nordic operators swallowed up by larger groups.”
He continues: “We see FDJ United and Banijay in France, Allwyn in Czechia and Greece, Lottomatica in Italy and the big US groups wielding the most influence and M&A power these days. There is still a lot of growth to be tapped into across Europe, too, with significant land-based migration likely over the next decade, if it can learn to effectively fight back against the black market.”
Marking territory
Looking at Europe’s top three operators: Flutter and Entain are largely UK-centric, while Lottomatica is battling Flutter (Sisal and Snaitech) for market leadership in Italy. Lines have been drawn in Central and Eastern Europe among the likes of Entain, Fortuna Entertainment Group and Superbet Group.
The German market expert says that while Betclic and Tipico have a “different geo-footprint” to Flutter and Entain and isn’t in this pair’s “must-win” markets – the US, Brazil and UK for Entain and the US, UK, Italy and Australia for Flutter – a certain Athens-based operator could prove a worthy opponent. “It will be more interesting to see how the competition develops between the growing [Betano parent] Kaizen Gaming, as both groups are active in key markets like Germany with Tipico versus Betano and Portugal with Betclic versus Betano.”
Like a game of Risk, consolidating territory looks to be the name of the game for European gambling’s major players, turbocharged by large-scale M&A. Four of Banijay’s list of top 10 operators have made their moves in the last 12 months, yet it remains to be seen whether the rest will follow suit and/or if others band together to catapult themselves into the conversation.
The post A European union: what Banijay Gaming’s move for Tipico could mean first appeared on EGR Intel.
Following the announcement of Banijay Group’s €3bn swoop for Tipico, EGR explores how the combined entity could shake up Europe’s online gambling landscape
The post A European union: what Banijay Gaming’s move for Tipico could mean first appeared on EGR Intel.