The owners of privately held German sports-betting company Tipico Co. are "seeking potential buyers for the company," as new European rules "drive a spate of merger and acquisition activity in the online-gambling industry," according to Henning & Jervell of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The company's owners, four German entrepreneurs, have tasked J.P. Morgan and Rothschild to "sound out options for the business including a sale." They hope the company's "rapid growth will attract private-equity firms and rivals," including U.S. company Amaya Inc. or U.K. peers such as 888 Holdings PLC and William Hill PLC. Based on "valuations of its U.K. rivals," Tipico might fetch between €1B ($1.12B) to €1.5B ($1.69B). Sponsors of Bayern Munich, Tipico is "the country's largest private sports-betting company" with around €500M ($562M) in net revenue or €2.5B ($2.81B) in processed bets annually -- "nearly half of the domestic market." Germany's fuzzy gambling laws, "which are a thorn in the side of the European Commission," might "spook potential Topico buyers or have them seek a discount to factor in uncertainty" (WSJ, 9/29).
