Catena Media acquires the award-winning affiliate AskGamblers.com for EUR 15 million
On 3 April 2016, Catena Media acquired the acknowledged and highly regarded affiliate website AskGamblers.com for EUR 15 million and thereby consolidates its position as Europe’s fastest growing company in lead generation. The transaction is the largest in Catena Media’s history and its third strategic acquisition thus far this year.
On 3 April 2016, Catena Media plc’s fully owned subsidiary acquired the affiliate website AskGamblers.com (“AskGamblers”). AskGamblers operates one of the markets most highly visited web portals for player reviews and rankings of online casinos. The company also provides players with the unique opportunity of trying online casino-related disputes via the portal and, to date, this has resulted in more than EUR 5 million being repaid to players. Players across Europe utilise AskGamblers with the UK being the company’s largest market. At the prestigious iGB Affiliate Awards, AskGamblers has won the Best Casino Affiliate for three consecutive years, most recently in 2015. The transaction includes all affiliate accounts, domains, mobile apps and social media accounts.
AskGamblers’ sales in the first quarter of 2016 amounted to approximately EUR 810,000 with a profit margin surpassing 80%. The revenue stems from organic traffic under revenue sharing agreements and is expected to generate at least 25,000 new depositing clients each year. Revenue will accrue to Catena Media from and including 1 April 2016.
AskGamblers’ development centre is based in Serbia and comprises a team of 30 employees, all of whom will be offered continued employment by Catena Media. This will give the company access to a talent pool of skilled employees in technical development and programming. Accordingly, Catena Media now has approximately 130 employees and has offices in three countries.
“We are incredibly proud of acquiring AskGamblers which is one of the best brands in the affiliate market and whose operations are a perfect fit for Catena Media. AskGamblers is an extremely important site for casino operators and, through its stringent requirements for certified casinos, contributes to creating a better iGaming industry. The transaction is the largest in Catena Media’s history and in line with our strategy of growth through acquisitions in a fragmented market. In parallel, we are strengthening our team with a number of highly skilled individuals and this transaction provides us with the opportunity to build the office in Serbia into an extremely cost-efficient development centre for Catena Media,” says Robert Andersson, CEO of Catena Media.
The purchase price amounts to EUR 15 million, which will be paid in three tranches: EUR 3 million will be paid on completion of the transaction; EUR 8.25 million will be paid when all assets have been transferred to Catena Media and EUR 3.75 million will be paid six months after the acquisition has been completed.
“Catena Media has grown into one of the most interesting actors in our industry and it feels particularly exciting that AskGamblers will now enter the next phase together with them,” says Igor Salindrija, founder and previous owner of AskGamblers.com.
About Catena Media
Catena Media was founded in 2012 and is engaged in performance marketing and lead generation predominantly within the iGaming industry. The company thereby attracts substantial numbers of online players through various products and services, and directs them to a number of B2B customers, mainly consisting of iGaming operators. Catena Media focuses primarily on customers who operate online casinos on their own websites. Customers typically use a network of marketing partners, known as affiliates, to promote their products and services and, thus attract more online players to their websites. iGaming operators remunerate Catena Media for each online player that it generates for the operator through such websites as www.johnslots.com/sv/ and www.rightcasino.com. Catena Media’s core markets are Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The company has approximately 100 employees. The Group’s headquarter is located in Sliema, Malta.
For further information, please contact:
Robert Andersson, CEO +356 770 329 28
www.catenamedia.com
This information was submitted for publication at 8.00 a.m. CET on 4 April 2016. The company’s Certified Advisor is Avanza.
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