Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners has further expanded its gambling portfolio by acquiring Italian betting operator Sisal Group.

On Monday, CVC announced that it had reached a deal to acquire Sisal from its current trio of private equity owners Apax Partners, Permira and Clessidra. The companies expect the transaction to be complete by the end of Q3 2016.

The deal, which includes CVC assuming Sisal’s €966m debt, values the Italian firm at around €1b. In 2015, Sisal reported a net loss of €40m on earnings of €182m and revenue of €787m, of which more than one-fifth came via Sisal’s payment services division SisalPay.

Formed in 1946, Sisal was the first company licensed by the Italian state to conduct legal gaming operations. Its business has since grown to encompass a retail network of around 45k outlets offering everything from lottery products, the Sisal Matchpoint sports and race betting brand, video lottery terminals and amusement with prizes (AWP) machines.