Games Global plots IPO on New York Stock Exchange after M&A spree
Firm sets its sights on public US listing less than two years after its operational launch as bosses claim business can be North America’s “leading supplier”
Games Global has filed an initial public offering (IPO) prospectus as it plans to list its share on the New York Stock Exchange later this year.
The Isle of Man-based supplier filed the prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday, April 16, with plans to trade under the ticker GGL.
Games Global is 100% owned by Zinnia Limited, with the company set to control more than 50% of the business following the float.
The prospectus does not include an expected offering price per share, nor does it disclose how much it expects to raise via the IPO.
The business is currently licensed in 20 jurisdictions and is partnered with more than 350 operators, including Flutter, DraftKings, bet365, and 888.
It has also built a network of 40 studios, including 24 in-house studios and 16 partnered companies, through which it holds exclusive rights.
In the nine months to December 31, 2023, Games Global reported revenue of €273.2m (£290.8m), up from €221.4m in the nine months ending December 31, 2022.
Adjusted EBITDA landed at €120.8m in the nine months leading to December 31, 2023, up from €109.9m in the previous corresponding period. Profit for the 2023 reporting period was €107.8m, compared with €97.3m in 2022.
The prospectus also reported that the supplier’s games had more than 7.3 million unique monthly active players making €6.5bn in wagers across eight billion paid spins in December 2023.
The company is led by former IGT executive vice-president Walter Bugno as CEO as well as CFO Timothy Mickley, who played a key role in SafeCharge’s public listing. The group’s chair, Gavin Isaacs, previously served as Scientific Games CEO and sat on the DraftKings board between 2020 and 2021.
Games Global was established in 2021 and officially launched in 2022 following the completion of the acquisition of Microgaming’s distribution business and other assets.
M&A has been a core growth strategy for the business since launching, as the company has hoovered up assets to expand its global reach.
Those acquisitions include the swoop totalling €9.2m for Quickfire Limited, Almond Gaming, Games Global Estonia, Corvide, and Oakwood Services in May 2022.
That was followed by a €12.1m acquisition of the Prima Networks Group that same month and the €5.1m purchase of Creative Foundry in July 2022.
MahiGaming was snapped up for €80.8m in August 2022, which included a call option of the B2B assets of Digital Gaming Corporation USA. This option was exercised in February 2024 to complete the acquisition from Super Group.
Velo Studios was added to the business in February 2023 for €81.2m. A 51% stake taken in AreaVegas for $5m was the final M&A move to date, instigated in September 2023.
The filing also includes four key strategic pillars through which Games Global plans to expand and achieve scale.
These include developing “meaningful customer relationships” to grow igaming operator share of wallet, develop beyond core markets of North America and Europe, expand into adjacent verticals such as lottery and omnichannel, and continue to generate a “robust pipeline of new games” to increase the “probability of creating franchise brands.”
The group is targeting a launch in South Africa by the end of the year, while it also cited a “significant opportunity in the Latin American market.”
The firm added that it is “well positioned to establish [itself] as a leading supplier in the overall North American igaming market,” with expectations there could be as many as 15 live online casino states in the US by 2028, up from just seven at the time today.
The IPO will be underwritten by JP Morgan, Jefferies, Macquarie, and Barclays.