Sisal wins Tunisia full-service gambling for Flutter

Flutter Entertainment’s new Sisal Italia unit has secured exclusive management of gaming in Tunisia, awarded by national sports betting authority, Promosport.

Sisal will develop and manage a ‘comprehensive product portfolio’ in Tunisia, including the provision of sports betting, online games, instant lotteries and number games (lottery draws).  

Promosport’s licence will cover an initial period of 10 years, and will allow management of all betting and gaming products across both retail points of sale and online channels throughout the country.

“Winning the tender in Tunisia is a significant achievement for Sisal,” remarked Marco Caccavale, Managing Director, Sisal International.

“Not only does it showcase our lottery expertise and  leadership at a local and international level, it demonstrates execution against our strategic ambition to enter into regions which have considerable growth opportunities and development prospects in the future.”

Occurring just a few months after the Italian firm’s acquisition by Flutter Entertainment, the Tunisian tender – lauded as an ‘important milestone’ – broadens the reach of the FTSE100 gambling group’s operations in Europe and North Africa. 

As well as strengthening Flutter’s standing, the development marks another step in Sisal’s ‘internationalisation strategy’, building on pre-Flutter market entries into other Mediterranean markets.

This has included a lottery licence in Morocco secured in January 2019, an online licence in Spain gained in July 2019, and another lottery management licence awarded in Turkey in August 2020. 

Flutter’s acquisition of Sisal back in August for €1.9 bn (£1.6/$2.2bn) substantially bolstered the company’s European presence, taking over the 39,000 strong Sisal Matchpoint Italian retail network and SuperEnalotto lottery business.

Additionally, the takeover further strengthened the company’s status in the aforementioned Medietteriaan markets in both Europe and North Africa, a region in which its foothold has now been further strengthened via the Tunisia tender.

In August, Flutter finalised the completion of its corporate integration of Sisal’s business units, which resulted in a further reorganisation of its group’s UK and European structure to account for the brands of Paddy Power, Betfair, Sky Bet, Tombola, PokerStars, Sisal Matchpoint and Adjarabet EE.