Elys Could Launch Sportsbook Following Bookmaker Acquisition

• Sports technology company Elys Game is moving to acquire Bookmakers Company.
• This is a $12 million purchase as Elys may be working to launch its own sportsbook.

TORONTO – A new sportsbook may be on the horizon after the announcement that Elys Game Technology is in the process of acquiring Bookmakers Company US (USB), a US-based bookmaking company.

Elys plans to use the USB sports wagering services to design their own sportsbook and offer betting odds throughout the US.

USB already has a base in the Nevada sports betting market, providing odds and services for multiple books. This would allow Elys to easily enter the US sports betting market for retail and mobile sportsbooks.

Elys Sportsbook On The Horizon

This new endeavor will cost Elys about $12 million by the time of its closing. Elys will pay 50% in cash and 50% in common shares. USB could also see an additional $38 million over the next five years if certain milestones are achieved as is stipulated within the documents of the current purchase agreement.

“We started US Bookmaking with a vision to build a top ranked team of experienced bookmakers in light of the looming repeal of sports betting prohibition in the US. Since 2018, our team and customer network have been building quickly and we are very optimistic about the expansion and growth opportunities developing in the U.S. sports betting market,” said Vic Salerno, President and founder of USB. “We realized that to effectively compete and grow with this opportunity we needed a viable technology partner that knows the sports betting business extremely well. Having visited the Elys trading floor in Italy, we are very impressed with the work that the Elys team did to Americanize their sports betting technology. We believe the timing of this acquisition is ideal for USB since we have been vetting the technology field for the best sports betting technology while getting ready for the reopening of our clients as the COVID pandemic subsides. The addition of a proprietary sports betting platform will allow USB to customize features that our clients desire while having full control of our cost structure. We look forward to working with the ELYS team to complete the transaction as quickly as possible.”

No set deadline has been made for when this purchase will be complete, but this announcement indicates that the process is nearing its completion.

Additionally, the legal sports betting operation that could stem from this acquisition does not have an official date set for when it could occur, making for two important dates that have yet to be publicized. This deal is in the early stages of going public with such an announcement.

“Our team at Elys has worked diligently to prepare our leading-edge platform for the booming opportunity in the U.S. market. Our focus has been to ensure that our future U.S. clients are able to access a design-built solution for sports betting in the U.S. that is locally supported with comprehensive trading, risk management, operations and maintenance teams for frictionless deployments,” said Michele Ciavarella, Executive Chairman of Elys Game Technology. “We are extremely pleased with the relationship that we developed with the founders and highly-experienced team at USB during our negotiations and the extensive synergies that we believe the combined entities have. We found great commonality between the family culture that Elys fosters in its Italian operations, as with USB and its business operations spanning a number of states in the U.S. We believe that our Elys Gameboard technology will give USB the tools they need to rapidly expand their current U.S. footprint and potentially develop operations in the evolving Canadian sports betting market. The agreement with USB provides our shareholders with a compelling growth opportunity through the combination of our leading-edge betting technology and USB’s seasoned bookmaking expertise.”

Once the deal is finalized, fans can expect more incoming news about the potential sportsbook.

News tags: Bob Kocienski | Bookmakers Company | Canada | Elys Gaming Technology | John Salerno | Michele Ciavarella | Robert Walker | Toronto | Vic Salerno