Evolution Gaming is a well-known name amongst the gambling community, having earned a solid reputation as one of the major Live Casino providers. In recent days, the company has made the news after announcing an agreement to take over giant game developer NetEnt, another well-established provider who gave us popular slot games like Starburst, Dead or Alive, Twin Spin and hundreds of others.
Both Evolution and NetEnt are listed on the Stockholm stock exchange, and the offer came for SEK 19.6 Billion (C$2.8bn), and SEK 79.93 (C$11.70) per share. If the deal goes through, Evolution Gaming will own 90% of NetEnt.
In a statement, the company itself has pointed out that “The merger of Evolution’s leading position in live casino and NetEnt’s strong position within online slots will create a first-class B2B supplier with opportunity to drive digitalization of the global gaming industry.”
Although the offer has already been made, the acceptance period does not start before August and ends in two months’ time. From their part, NetEnt shareholders have already confirmed that the offer will be accepted (EGR Global).
Who is Evolution Gaming?
Evolution Gaming was first launched in 2006 and it has since become a leading B2B supplier of live casino software. As of 2020, Evolution has a client base of over 300 online casino operators, together with a handful of land-based operators. Through its numerous studios located either in Europe or North America, the company has over 8,000 employees and it is the undisputed creator of innovative live casino games, that include popular table game variants, and never seen before live casino game shows. The latter are becoming exceptionally popular in various markets, with Evolution launching new concept game shows year after year. Some of their most popular titles are Live Deal or No Deal, Live Dream Catcher, Monopoly Live and Live Mega Ball.
Throughout the years, Evolution Gaming has received several awards, the most recent of which occurred in February 2020, when it was crowned Online Casino Supplier of the Year at the Global Gaming Awards in London.
The Evolution – NetEnt takeover: strengthening its foothold in the gaming industry
NetEnt was first launched in 1996, a decade before Evolution came to be, and it has become throughout the years one of the leading developers of the industry. Thus, it is no surprise that such a takeover is making headlines in the gaming world! At the same time, it shows just how far Evolution Gaming came as a game provider in just a few short years.
For NetEnt, this is not the first merger, as only last year the company merged with major game developer Red Tiger for £220 million. The merger took place as a means to counter decreasing share prices – something that ultimately seems to have worked, as NetEnt finally recorded a growth right after the integration with this provider.
As things progress, this merger with Red Tiger will surely benefit Evolution Gaming, as Evolution’s foothold in the gaming industry is strengthened after this massive takeover. From the looks of it, future premonitions bode well, as NetEnt’s share prizes have already soared, after the announcement, from SEL 56.00 to SEK 77.00 (Gambling Insider).