Better Collective recently acquired nearly 5% of it’s rival affiliate Catena Media. What does this mean for the sports entertainment world? Stay tuned to find out.
End of the Flagship
Towards the end of January 2023, the sale of AskGamblers was finalized. In December of the previous year, Catena Media made an agreement with Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) regarding the sale of AskGamblers.
The brand has built it up as a flagship but decided to offload it soon after iGB in November. All of this occurred as a result of the strategic review Catena publisher in May of 2022.
Many other affiliate assets of Catena had been listed for sale as a result of this strategic reveiw. And the purpose was actually the rising interest of competitor brands in the flagship. It wasn’t just AskGamblers but many trading divisions had also been put up for sale by Catena.
Later in August 2022, the strategic review was expanded. And Catena Media made the decision to divest many of its European assets. Primarily based in iGaming and betting, the brand had assets strewn about all over, including in Malta and the UK.
These assets were also set to be offloaded by Catena by that point. The entire review came to a completion towards the beginning of January 2023 when AskGamblers was finally sold.
A huge chunk of Catena’s European affiliates had been reduced by the end of 2022. And many reports claim that Acroud purchased Catena’s paid media division for over 5 million euros.
Interest in AskGamblers
Gaming Innovation Group wasn’t the only brand interesting in purchasing AskGamblers. In fact, reports claim that interest of multiple third parties in the acquisition of AskGamblers was the catalyst to Catena’s decision.
The sale was only recently facilitated so an exact price is yet to be declared for the flagship. However, many reports state that the actual sum offered by Gaming Innovation Group was significantly lower than Catena’s asking price.
Rise of the Rival: Better Collective
Better collective actually announced the acquisition of a 5% minimum position of Catena Media. But after the brand left audiences in a state of surprise, it elected to keep quiet on the details of the transaction.
Better Collective said that it would not many any further comment on the acquisition. Carnegie Investment Bank AB was a big player in this entire strategic review as well. This was the organization appointed as the financial advisor of Catena just before the news of AskGamblers broke.
There are still multiple affiliations and businesses left that Catena would like to offload. And Carnegie Investment Bank AB is the strategic partner who will facilitate the same of those assets.
So far, the only information substantiated by both parties is the acquisition of the 5% minimum position by Better Collective. The brand declared this in a short note published on the 1st of February in 2023.
Both Catena and Better Collective are also listed on the NASDAQ Stockholm exchange. And news of the acquisition became mainstream right after the closure on the exchange.
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