Online gambling affiliate marketing firm Catena Media has boosted its geographic reach via a major German market acquisition.

On Monday, Catena announced that it had reached a deal to acquire the affiliate-related sports betting assets of Baybets Ltd, including 50 separate websites – among them, sportwetten.org and sportwette.net – most of which focus on German-speaking sports betting markets.

Catena said the deal will cost the company €26.5m upfront, half in cash and half in newly issued Catena shares (the latter being subject to a 24-month lock-up period). There’s also the possibility of maximum additional earn-out payments of €63.5m if the Baybets assets reach certain performance benchmarks over the next two years.

The deal is expected to close mid-month, after which Catena will immediately begin integrating the Baybets assets. Baybets’ current complement of 23 Malta-based staffers will also be making the transition to the Malta-based Catena Media’s Sports division.