Lottomatica is actively targeting further M&A in the near future, with a focus on acquiring companies with a small market share in Italy.
Speaking on the operator’s analyst call for its full-year 2025 earnings report, CFO Laurence Van Lancker revealed the company is prioritising businesses with a “sub-1% market share” to add to its portfolio.
An example of the type of deal Lottomatica is pursuing can be found in Sportbet, with the former acquiring a 20% stake in the latter towards the end of 2025.
Sportbet has around a 0.7% stake in the Italian gambling market, forming part of the longtail that has remained live since the regime change in Q4.
Van Lancker said: “If you look at the Sportbet deal, we’ve taken a 20% stake. We’ve taken a minority and we’re very happy the shareholders are staying to drive the business in a complementary way with ours.
“We’re in discussions for other potential deals and, as soon as we close them, we’ll announce them.
“In terms of size, when we talk about Sportbet, we’re talking about similar sizes, meaning they’re small – they’re sub-1% market share. They’re small businesses and the valuation is definitely highly accretive to our business.”
Rome-based Sportbet is led by CEO Giuseppe Palumbo. It is one of the 52 licensed brands live in Italy after the new framework, which included a significant licence fee hike, came into effect.
CEO and chair Guglielmo Angelozzi added the company is well placed to carry on increasing its market share through further M&A and organic growth.
He said: “Of course there is more to come in regard to bolt-ons or [minority stake] deals. But also, there is a possibility of continuing organic growth.
“The environment is pretty constructive from this point of view. We think there will be more pressure on long tail operators in general, and we are very well positioned to continue to capture market share.”
The report also highlighted the integration of the SKS365 platform, now rebranded as PWO, as a major growth driver, with Lottomatica having completed its acquisition of the sports betting operator in April 2024 in a €639m deal.
Besides the Lottomatica brand, the group also operates Goldbet, Betflag, Better and Totosi in the Italian market.
Angelozzi explained the online segment of the business, which generated €955m in revenue in 2025, will be the company’s biggest beneficiary of AI technology.
He said: “When you look at the business, then [AI] has impacts on many other aspects of the company. It’s mainly on the online business for the time being. It doesn’t matter whether its sport or its igaming or its digital marketing in general.
“Then of course you have the impact on logistics, a bunch of internal processes, customer care and the future production of games.
“When you look at the core impact in terms of revenue potential, you see that on all the segments of the online business.”
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The post Lottomatica “in discussions” for further small-scale M&A first appeared on EGR Intel.
CFO Laurence Van Lancker reveals the Milan-listed operator is targeting companies with “sub-1% market share” as it looks to expand its presence in the Italian market
The post Lottomatica “in discussions” for further small-scale M&A first appeared on EGR Intel.