France's Mangas Gaming buys Everest
Mangas Gaming has acquired a 60% controlling stake in European-facing operator Everest Gaming, marking its long-awaited move into the gaming space.
Mangas Gaming has acquired a 60% controlling stake in European-facing operator Everest Gaming. Although the amount of the transaction was not revealed by Mangas Gaming, a figure of US$100m is believed to be accurate.
The deal marks the long-awaited move into the gaming space by the parent company of European sports betting operators BetClic, Expekt and Bet-At-Home; and provides it with a key platform and liquidity in the European poker and casino verticals. Mangas Gaming chief executive Isabelle Parize said: “Everest Gaming is a high quality company, it has excellent brand recognition in the poker sector thanks to its know-how and best practice. Mangas Gaming also confirms its position as a key player in the European online poker and sports betting arenas.”
Everest Poker is one of the main actors on the French poker scene, and Mangas Gaming will now look to establish the BetClic sports betting and Everest poker brands as the leaders in their respective verticals in France.
Everest Poker is owned by Taiwan-based GigaMedia and was established 12 years ago. It is one of the few European-focused online poker and casino companies with its own proprietary technology and currently employs around 250 people.
The acquisition has been long-rumoured, with Betclic refusing to comment on rumours it was on the verge of acquiring the business in September.
This followed GigaMedia’s announcement in June that it was in final discussions with two parties regarding the sale of Everest Poker, the performance of which was blamed for its first quarter 2009 net income falling by more than half to US$4.8m.