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. 

Sisal May Join Camelot in Contesting UKGC Lottery Operator Selection Process

A month has passed since Allwyn Entertainment has been awarded a license to operate the National Lottery, promising sweeping changes in the sector, and making sure that the lottery will be “resuscitated” and enjoy some significant advantages. Allwyn will reduce the minimum lottery ticket cost to £1 and add more games while ensuring better profitability and more money committed to good causes.

The bid is now contested by at least one entity with Camelot, the incumbent, revealing that it would seek to challenge the selection process and argue that the UKGC has not been entirely fair in pronouncing Allwyn Entertainment as the winner. Camelot has been the incumbent since the first lottery selection process in 1994 but this may now come to an end.

Now, the other bidder in the process, Sisal, may be looking to challenge the decision, joining a potential lawsuit by Camelot lodged with the High Court. Camelot contends that the UKGC has favored Allwyn Entertainment awarding it the new contract beginning in 2024. The regulator has denied wrongdoing and issued a rebuttal arguing that its process has been based on merit only.

However, Sisal and Camelot tend to disagree it seems, as a slight change in the tender rules may now give the pair legal grounds to challenge the outcome of the bid. Sisal has made no official move just yet, but it may try to do so. Flutter Entertainment, the company that acquired sisal for a total of £1.6 billion ($2.10 billion) in 2021, is eager to make its latest asset have a shot at one of the biggest lottery markets, hence why it might choose to challenge the move.

The UKGC has said that it’s confident that its selection process was based on transparent criteria that guided the entire process and expressed regret that Camelot had chosen to settle matters in a court of law. The regulator further added that it had been able to apply all prerequisites to ensure a level playing field. Therefore, its decision was predicated based on the individual merit of individual companies.

The UKGC may be challenged with some success, though, as it has just transpired over the weekend that the watchdog has taken money from good cause charities to meet a budget deficit.

CVC move for Italian gaming and payments operator Sisal

CVC Capital Partner who own already Sky Betting & Gaming have now moved again to acquire 100% equity stake in Italian gaming and payments operator Sisal Group. The offer will include Capital Partners assuming Sisal’s huge debt of €960 million along with placing a €1 billion offer for the entire company.

The move has surprised many observers as Sisal in its 2015 report that it had a loss of €40 million on earnings of €182 million with whole group revenues of €787 million.

The equity firm are not afraid of big deals after the December 2014 purchase from BskyB of Sky Betting & Gaming for £800 million and then Tipico, the German sports betting operator having a controlling share in the giant firm for €1 billion.

However the Sisal bid still has to be approved by regulators.

Giampiero Mazza, Partner and Head of CVC’s Italian team, said: “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to invest in Sisal. The Company is a well-diversified entertainment business with a historical brand in Italy and strong market positions across gaming, lotteries, betting and convenience payments.

“Under its previous shareholders and the management team led by Emilio Petrone, Sisal was able to grow and reshape its business perimeter thorough a period of difficult macro conditions and regulatory uncertainty. Sisal today is ideally positioned to capture growth in a number of areas.

“We look forward to support Emilio and his team to consolidate Sisal’s leadership in the payments space, continue to develop its online gaming and betting platform and further innovate its proposition in proximity retail.”

Emilio Petrone, CEO of Sisal Group, added: “I would like to congratulate the entire CVC Milan Team for finalising a great acquisition. Sisal, celebrating its 70th anniversary, is a very important Italian company that is enjoying a period of fantastic growth and overall results. I am confident that with CVC, we will make a formidable team enabling Sisal to fully exploit its potential, becoming even stronger and more competitive. Personally, I am thrilled to lead this new, exciting phase in the company’s history. I want to thank Apax, Permira and Clessidra for the consistent and valuable support they have given to me and the company over the last years”.