In the third quarter of 2021, there was a notable increase in corporate activity within the affiliate sector. Bruin Capital made headlines by acquiring Oddschecker Global Media for £155 million. This move followed Better Collective's significant acquisition of the Action Network for $240 million in Q2.
Oddschecker primarily operates in the European odds comparison markets, but the US market played a crucial role in this acquisition, similar to how it influenced Better Collective’s purchase of the Action Network and Catena Media’s acquisitions of lineups.com and I5Media. Guy Harding, Oddschecker’s head of commercial strategy, discusses the implications of the deal in an exclusive conversation with Scott Longley in this edition.
Additionally, other acquisitions were made in the period, such as Raketech acquiring Infinileads to expand its presence in Latin America, and XLMedia's acquisition of the igaming-focused digital agency Blueclaw.
The activity in Q3 extended beyond mergers and acquisitions. Gambling.com Group successfully listed on the New York Stock Exchange, while Playmaker made its debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange, adding to the sector's earnings visibility. Jefferies’ initiation note on Gambling.com Group estimates the annual value of the US gaming market to be between $2.4 billion and $3 billion. Further analysis on this will be provided in Part 2.
