UK gambling operator Rank Group has burnished its continental presence by acquiring Spanish digital bingo and casino operator YoBingo.es.
On Tuesday, Rank’s board of directors announced that it had reached a deal to acquire the entire issued share capital of QSB Gaming Ltd, the parent company of YoBingo.es. The deal calls for Rank to make an upfront payment of €21m, with a potential total payout of €52m based on the Spanish operation’s future performance.
Rank says QSB and its subsidiaries generated revenue and earnings of €10.4m and €2.5m, respectively, in the 12 months ending December 31, 2017. Newly appointed Rank CEO John O’Reilly said the deal would expand on his company’s established Spanish retail business Enracha, which soft-launched its digital operations in September 2017.
Rank has made multi-channel part of its new overall strategy and the company believes YoBingo will accelerate this strategy in Spain. In addition to being Spain’s number-two online bingo operator with a 30% market share, YoBingo also holds a 5% share of Spain’s online slots market and boasts a proprietary platform “with strong potential to support other regulated markets.”