The Gambling.com Group has completed its acquisition of Roto Sports, the operator of US-facing fantasy sports news and advice site RotoWire.com, for $27.5m.
Under the deal, agreed last month, Gambling.com Group paid an initial $20.0m at closing, consisting $15.0m in cash and $5.0m in newly issued, unregistered ordinary shares.
A further $2.5m and $5.0m will be due on the first and second anniversaries of the closing, respectively.
Gambling.com Group said the purchase would immediately expand its presence in the US and is expected to create immediate accretion to its fiscal 2022 earnings.
The operator intends will leverage RotoWire’s existing audience, content library, workforce, media partnerships and trust with US sports fans to further accelerate its business in the US online sports betting market.
Gambling.com Group added that RotoWire’s digital assets, combined with its own digital expertise and technology platform, would drive substantial, incremental affiliate revenue in the sports betting environment.
“We completed the acquisition according to our internal timelines on January 1 2022, and thank the RotoWire team for their professionalism and availability through the holiday period,” Gambling.com Group chief financial officer Elias Mark said.
Gambling.com Group chief executive Charles Gillespie added: “Commercially, the RotoWire business has three different revenue streams, each generating over $1m per year, which give it significant reach into sports media organizations as well as with advertisers and individual sports fans.
“These deep and long-lasting customer relationships are an ideal platform from which to capitalize on the new era of American sports – the betting and gaming era.”
RotoWire president Peter Schoenke also said: “The US is entering a whole new world of sports fandom and combining forces with Gambling.com Group will accelerate RotoWire’s growth. Gambling.com Group’s resources and experience will help RotoWire rapidly advance its sports betting offerings to take full advantage of this new era.”