Betway Parent Super Group Goes Public Through Merger With Sports Entertainment

Super Group, the parent company of some of the best betting websites, including the online betting giant Betway, is preparing a deal to go public on the New York Stock Exchange after the merger with Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corp. The deal is valued at approximately $5.1 billion, according to Reuters. The merger will help with the company’s public trading.

The merger deal comes after Betway started its expansion from Europe to the United States. Betway has already announced the acquisition of Digital Gaming Corp., which will enable it to expand its market to 10 states in the US.

In accordance with the new deal, shareholders who already account for about 66% of the companies’ equity will keep their stakes. New board members will include Eric Grubman, former National Football League executive, as Chairman, and John Collins, former National Hockey League COO.

A special purpose acquisition company or SPAC, like Sports Entertainment, is a shell company that assists in fundraising for an initial public offering for merging with a private company. In the process, the merged company becomes public, providing an alternative to traditional IPOs.

Betway already has a platform that offers its users to bet on popular sports. It has partnerships with US NBA teams such as the Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets, LA Clippers, and Golden State Warriors, and West Ham United in the Premier League.

To proceed with its US expansion, Betway entered the US market in early 2021, which was made easier with the sports betting ban lifted in 2018.

Besides Betway, which has had significant success in the US, Super Group holds other sports betting brands licensed in 23 countries worldwide. Super Group projects its earnings to $1.5 billion in 2021, which comes as no surprise since it processed more than $42 billion in wagers from March 2020 to March 2021.

Neal Menashe, Super Group CEO, said that going public will help the company capitalise on global growth opportunities.