Live casino games giant Evolution is on the verge of acquiring yet another big iGaming player in the world of digital and gaming entertainment. The company announced earlier this week that it has made an offer to buy Megaways creator Big Time Gaming.
Evolution will pay €450 million for Big Time Gaming in cash and newly-issued Evolution shares, with the cash portion being €80 million and the balance to be issued in new shares.
The deal is the live casino provider’s another major acquisition, following close behind last year’s NetEnt accretion. The NetEnt deal, which was achieved on December 1st, 2020, pushed Evolution closer to its goal of being the world’s leading provider of digital casino games. And now that Big Time Gaming appears to be the live entertainment titan’s next big acquisition, there appears to be no limit to what Evolution will accomplish.
Evolution would pay a €220 million cash/shares distribution as part of the consideration. Big Time Gaming’s EBITDA for 2022/23 and 2023/24 will be used to determine the value of so-called earn out payments. These earn-out payments will be limited to €230 million and will be due on a one-to-one basis in 2023 and 2024.
There will also be an upfront payment of €80 million in the form of an immediate cash deposit. The cash portion will be paid as a down payment, with the remaining amount settled in the form of the aforementioned shares. Once the transaction is completed, the distribution of shares will be finalized.
Furthermore, the agreement provides that the Evolution shares to be issued would have a value per share equal to the price per share on Nasdaq Stockholm from March 23 to April 7, this year (2021).
The transaction’s completion, which is expected in the second quarter of 2021, is reportedly dependent only on regulatory approvals, with the parties having already fulfilled all of the remaining terms and conditions.
The addition of Big Time Gaming to Evolution Chairman Jens von Bahr’s existing iGaming portfolio will enable the company to improve its position as the leading provider of online casino games even further, according to von Bahr.
According to von Bahr, Big Time’s commitment to digital innovation fully resonates with Evolution’s, making the BTG brand the ideal match for the live casino specialist.
