Software supplier Global Daily Fantasy Sports will acquire live dealer games supplier Playgon Interactive in a CAD$9.5m ($7.2m) deal.
The move will see Global expand its footprint out of the daily fantasy sports sphere and into live casino, a sector that Darcy Krogh, chief executive of Global, said he believes will be at the centre of growth in online gaming in the near future.
“This acquisition of Playgon brings to Global a cutting-edge technology that I am very excited about and adds another unique product to our portfolio of B2B content,” Krogh said. “Playgon’s proprietary technology is flexible and applicable to both real money and social gaming markets.
“Live casino is the innovation that best compliments the growth of online casino gaming. Technological advancements, increased connectivity, mobile gaming, along with positive regulations in the industry continues to open up new markets and fuel this online casino growth.”
Despite the differences in the sectors in which Playgon and Global do business, Guido Ganschow, chief executive of Playgon, said he believed the deal would allow for significant cross-selling opportunities.
“I am excited about our business combination and to work with Darcy and the Global team to build a diversified B2B business,” Ganschow said. “There are a number of cross selling opportunities with our two products as they are focused in two of the hottest growth areas in online gaming, casino and sports.
“Going public at this time for Playgon provides access to new capital to fund our vision to become a dominate player in the live dealer market with our innovative proprietary new technology. We have spent the last four years getting ready and now is the time to introduce to the marketplace a mobile focused live dealer product that we expect to strongly resonate with the big operators in the sector.”
After the deal is closed, Playgon will be able to nominate one individual to the board of directors of Global. Although this individual has not yet been chosen, Global said it is expected that Ganschow will serve in this role.
“Guido has been involved in the evolution of this gaming technology since its inception in early 2000,” Kogh said. “He is a leading expert in the live gaming space and Playgon possesses a unique technology that can be used for real money and social gaming on mobile applications. We are excited with the Playgon opportunity and to work alongside Guido to introduce this innovative technology to the marketplace.”
Playgon’s 63.3m shares were priced at $0.15 each in the sale. After the deal closes, Playgon have $500,000 of short-term debt and $1,321,250 of long-term debt.
As part of the deal, Global have also announced a financing to raise at least $5m, with a subscription cost of at least $0.15. The money raised will be used for studio launch, sales and marketing, continued software development, and general working capital.