Soon Polish sports betting fans will be able to place their bets under the sign of the well-known MERKUR sun: Merkur Sportwetten GmbH takes over the renowned sports betting company Totolotek SA based in Warsaw.
The share purchase agreement has already been concluded and both parties are now awaiting merger clearance. With this acquisition, the German company will enter the Polish market and thus expand its presence in Europe.
“Sports betting is extremely popular in Poland and for many football fans it’s an essential part of a good match. The acquisition of Totolotek is an important part of our growth strategy to open up the Polish market and thereby gain another core market in Europe alongside Germany, Austria, Denmark and Belgium,” - explains Niko Steinkrauß, CEO of Merkur Sportwetten.
Totolotek has been firmly established in the Polish sports betting market for over 27 years and is one of the top three omnichannel betting companies in Poland. It markets its wide range of sports betting products through stationary trade at over 260 distribution points as well as online via its website and mobile app. Totolotek currently has 560 employees.
“We are delighted to have gained a strong strategic partner with Merkur Sportwetten, and the Gauselmann Group behind it. With its experience and financial strength as well as its innovative products for stationary trade and the online and mobile sector, it will help Totolotek achieve further growth,” - says Adam Lamentowicz, CEO of Totolotek.
Merkur Sportwetten GmbH is a subsidiary of the Gauselmann Group based in Espelkamp, Germany, and consolidates the entire national and international sports betting business of the group. This includes the betting broker Cashpoint as well as the sports betting brands XTiP (Germany), Cashpoint (Austria and Denmark) and Betcenter (Belgium). Merkur Sportwetten is taking over the provider Totolotek from the Greek group of companies Intralot. Intralot supplies integrated gambling and transaction processing systems, game content, sports betting management and interactive gaming services to state-licensed gaming organisations worldwide.
“Consistent with Intralot’s strategy of disinvesting from its non-core markets and focusing on the group’s strategic markets, such as the USA, we are very glad we can safeguard Totolotek’s continued growth within the strong Gauselmann Group and its European-market-focused sports-betting division Merkur Sportwetten. In my view, this transaction will create value for all involved parties – Gauselmann, Totolotek and Intralot – which was fundamentally important from Intralot’s point of view when deciding to proceed with this transaction,” - explains Andreas Chryssos, CFO of Intralot Group, summing up the acquisition of Totolotek by Merkur Sportwetten.
