Investment company Columbia Pacific Advisors (CPBF) has announced a $30m (~£22.8m) senior secured term loan to the esports wagering products provider Esports Technologies.
Esports Technologies will use proceeds of the loan to acquire the business-to-consumer (B2C) assets and related operations of Aspire Global, an online casino and sportsbook company, in a $75.9 (~£60.3m) transaction.
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The acquired brands include online casinos Karamba, Hopa, Griffon Casino and Dansk777, and online sportsbook BetTarget. The loan has been provided as part of Columbia Pacific Advisors’ business finance strategy.
Aaron Speach, CEO of Esports Technologies, spoke on the announcement: “We are pleased to welcome Aspire’s portfolio of B2C online casino and sportsbook brands to Esports Technologies.
“Esports Technologies is on the leading edge of bringing the spreads, market depth, and speed to esports wagering that bettors have come to expect from online wagering on traditional sports. We look forward to introducing these capabilities to esports fans in several of the world’s largest regulated markets through this acquisition.”
With the acquisition, Esports Technologies has gained access to gaming licensing in regulated markets including the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Malta, and Denmark.
According to the release, Esports Technologies aims to ‘provide esports fans with the wagering performance they have grown to expect from traditional sports and additional betting opportunities that are unique to esports’.
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Lawrence Litchfield, CPBF’s Director of Business Development, commented: “This transaction demonstrated the dexterity of CPBF.
“With borrower operations on five continents and rigid timelines imposed by a M&A process with two public companies, we are pleased that CPBF could deliver for all parties.”
Esports Insider says: Thanks to the investment provided, Esports Technologies has gained gambling licences in several top-tier European regulated markets. It will be interesting to see how the company manages to establish itself on said markets and how it will handle its newly acquired assets, especially given its goal of ‘introducing market depth and speed to esports wagering’.