NetEnt Acquires Red Tiger Gaming for £200 Million

One of the biggest iGaming news this year comes from NetEnt, who last week decided to acquire fast-growing online slot supplier Red Tiger Gaming Limited in an all-cash deal with an initial enterprise value of GBP 200 million. The transaction will be completed imminently and is expected to be accretive to NetEnt’s EPS in 2020.

Known for the Daily Drop Jackpot feature which has taken over many established casino brands over Europe and paid out over £2.5 million since April 2019, Red Tiger exits gloriously with exactly 100 slot games out in the wild. The company of 170 employees in Malta, Isle of Man and Bulgaria thus becomes the first competitor game developer that’s been acquired by NetEnt, at least in the recent years.

The deal comes at times when NetEnt is coming out of a crisis and is being run by a new CEO, Therese Hillman. The company paid 12 times current year EBITDA for Red Tiger, is expected to reach GBP 18 million for the full year 2019. This is inclusive of additional £23 million payable in 2022 on an earn-out basis, subject to Red Tiger’s financial performance over the coming two years.

Established in 2014, Red Tiger has been one of the fastest-growing game makers in the industry, standing out with its great design and unique bonus features, although often duplicated across several titles, which has been criticised by the more seasoned players. Their must-drop jackpot feature was an instant success and continues to be among the top highlights among premium casinos with this feature.

Here are some comments from Therese Hillman, Group CEO of NetEnt: “I am very pleased to welcome Red Tiger into the NetEnt Group. The acquisition combines two of the leading and most innovative companies in the online gaming industry. We look forward to working with Red Tiger’s fantastic team to enhance our combined global reach and to offer further value to operators and players. The transaction will provide significant revenue synergies across our markets worldwide.”

Gavin Hamilton, CEO of Red Tiger, comments: “This is an exciting new stage of the Red Tiger story and we are delighted to become part of the NetEnt group. Accessing NetEnt’s unparalleled distribution network and geographic footprint will unlock new opportunities for Red Tiger and will further accelerate our growth. At Red Tiger we’ll remain focused as always on driving further innovation and we are looking forward to working with NetEnt on how to leverage our combined capabilities to create new products that wow our customers.”

That being said, we look forward to a very exciting future for Red Tiger and seeing what they will come up with next. See our curated list of Red Tiger casinos to pick your favourite.