Entain Strengthens Swedish Market Presence with Enlabs Takeover

Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes Coral and various other top igaming brands, is set to purchase Swedish operator, Enlabs. According to various sources, the purchase amount will be close to £250M. This comes just a few days after Entain rejected MGM Resorts’ takeover bid of £8.1BN.  

Signalling to the world that it is very much a gambling force to be reckoned with, Entain has accelerated its growth plans in the Baltic region through this acquisition. Enlabs is an online Swedish operator with a small retail presence.  

"The acquisition of Enlabs is perfectly aligned with our strategy of expanding across new regulated international markets," chief executive Shay Segev said.  

"We are hugely excited by the growth opportunities it presents both in its existing markets and through new market opportunities. 

"Enlabs is already a strong and rapidly growing business in their own right, but we now have a fantastic opportunity to turbocharge their growth by leveraging the power of our unparalleled proprietary technology, scale, product and marketing expertise." 

Entai n shuares spikes as news of this takeover was finalised.  

David Brohan, gaming and leisure analyst with stockbrokers Goodbody, said today’s announcement was a "very positive update from Entain". 

He added:  

"The bolt-on deal and current trading are both strong positives for the Entain investment case, and both increase the pressure on MGM to up their proposal in our view."