Transformative M&A
Despite a relatively short corporate history stretching back to the late 1980s, Flutter has executed some of the most transformative M&A transactions in the global sports betting and gaming industry — deals that have dramatically reshaped its business.
“We’ve done big and small deals: ones centered on achieving scale, others focused on an attractive region or a new product vertical,” says Richard Parker, senior director of integration at Flutter. “We even managed to do one of our biggest deals during the pandemic (the £11bn merger with The Stars Group in 2020), with the completion and subsequent integration done online via a virtual handshake.”
Such ingenuity is needed to take advantage of the extraordinary opportunities emerging globally. The US market is expanding rapidly, emerging markets like Brazil have just granted licenses to operate, and a regulatory shift toward greater consumer protections are all creating opportunities for experienced companies to expand into previously untapped markets. Flutter sees acquisitions as an effective way to maintain its global leadership. Over the past six years, it has acquired eight companies, enabling entry into new markets such as India and Serbia, bolstering its position in places like Italy, and expanding its product portfolio, such as tombola’s online bingo.
But buying power alone does not guarantee success. Across industries, up to 75% of M&A deals fail to achieve their objectives, with ineffective integration often to blame. Flutter has overcome this by developing an integration methodology that balances local expertise with the capabilities of the ”Flutter Edge”: global scale, advanced technology, market-leading products and deep industry expertise.
Investments in market leadership
Flutter’s 2022 acquisition of Sisal, Italy’s leading online sports betting and iGaming operator, illustrates how a well-managed integration can unlock value. The transaction provided immediate market leadership in Europe’s largest regulated market. Reaping the benefits of the Flutter Edge as part of a smooth integration, Sisal had a strong performance in 2024 as the brand embraced Flutter’s risk and trading capabilities while being first-to-market with its own Same-Game Parlay.
Value creation went both ways. Sisal brought lottery expertise to Flutter that opened new opportunities in North Africa, and its Duo feature helped inform the “Super Sub” feature developed for Paddy Power, which allows bets on one player’s performance to transfer to a replacement if that player is substituted. Flutter CEO Peter Jackson has described it as the company’s “best-ever product launch” in the UK.” According to Rosangela Robbiani, Product Managing Director at Sisal, “becoming part of Flutter has further accelerated innovation and enabled Sisal to access and leverage the competencies and expertise of the Flutter Edge. This has driven transformation across betting, gaming, and lottery for the business.”
Flutter has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to scale efficiently across geographies. Key integrations — such as online gaming operator Adjarabet in Georgia (2019), skill-based games site Junglee in India (2021), and the bingo site tombola in the UK (2022) — demonstrate Flutter’s ability to deliver value by scaling businesses in diverse markets and product categories. “We’re making sure that we maximize the value from those transactions,” says Parker, “bringing together our expertise and experience of the Flutter Edge, coupled with the local knowledge and capability. That’s what ultimately allows us to win in the market.”
De-risking market expansion
While the Flutter Edge often drives growth in acquired businesses, some acquisitions – such as BeyondPlay, acquired by Flutter subsidiary FanDuel in the US in 2024 – focus on enhancing Flutter’s own capabilities. Looking to improve its position in the iGaming space, Flutter chose acquisition over in-house development as the simplest path to taking a best-in-class operation into the market.
“We might have been able to build it ourselves over time,” says Matt Elkus, VP of corporate development and strategic partnerships at FanDuel, “but acquiring a proven operation allowed us to mitigate risks, reduce time-to-market and secure top talent immediately.” Since the acquisition, FanDuel has become the number one iGaming brand in America, supported by the addition of a leading jackpot product.
BeyondPlay founder and CEO Karolina Pelc is very proud of the fact that the merger with FanDuel Casino has allowed BeyondPlay’s jackpot product to be enjoyed by millions of US customers. “For a company that only started in 2021, it’s been an incredible and rapid journey from being a small gaming start-up to part of one of the largest gaming companies in the world,” says Pelc. “The integration was also smooth, with our product launched on FanDuel Casino within a few months of closing the deal.” This is only the start of innovation in this space, believes Elkus, who adds: “We believe there’s a ton of space in this market. How do we push the envelope? How do we innovate more? How do we reach new audiences? That gets me excited every day.”
While the BeyondPlay deal reflects Flutter’s commitment to ‘de-risking’ expansion by acquiring best-in-class capabilities, the acquisition of Serbia’s omni-channel sports betting and gambling operator MaxBet shows how Flutter can tailor its approach to smaller, high-growth markets. As an operator that had 20% online market share in Serbia, MaxBet’s strong local presence made it an ideal target for Flutter, who can leverage its global expertise. This is leading to an ambitious push to make MaxBet the leading operator across the Balkans by leaning on Flutter’s risk and pricing expertise alongside proprietary technology that can increase the scalability of MaxBet's platforms and enhance its product offering.
The integration methodology
In order to successfully integrate a newly acquired business, it is important to build the right strategy, understand the local culture, and the challenges that both the local team and their customers face. Parker says: “I champion the newly acquired business within Flutter, but also champion Flutter’s capability within the newly acquired business. Ultimately, the integration of local hero brands is about how we can help that business go faster. Spending time face-to-face is critical, while I always think that the aim of integration is to get that business to a point where it can operate just like any other business in the group as quickly as possible.”
“Each acquisition is unique,” adds Aine O’Dwyer, Flutter’s integration director. “We have a well-practised and structured approach – we leverage expertise from across the group and set up workstreams for key areas such as technology, product, marketing and operations – but every integration is tailored to the business we’re acquiring. It’s about building trust and showing that we’re here to boost their strengths, not impose ours.”
Flutter’s current focus is on finalizing the completion of two deals – the acquisition of Snaitech in Italy and NSX in Brazil. The latter positions Flutter well to capitalize on the world’s largest emerging betting market, where, upon the deal being announced, NSX was Brazil’s number four operator, with 9% of the combined sports betting and gaming market and set to generate revenue of around $256m on a standalone basis.
With a regulatory framework just established in Brazil, Flutter is laying the groundwork for a seamless integration based on its experience operating within such environments. “We believe the opportunity in Brazil is huge. It’s likely to become our fourth-largest market after the US, UK and Italy,” says Parker. “We are really excited about the prospect of NSX becoming part of Flutter. Each local business within the group has its own culture, and NSX is the same. It has a strong entrepreneurial spirit and has delivered rapid growth. We believe that the team’s local knowledge and expertise, coupled with our Flutter Edge capabilities, will be a winning combination as it has been in our other successful deals.”
Meanwhile, in Europe, Flutter believes the acquisition of Snaitech in Italy offers significant opportunities for value creation and has just received regulatory clearance. Its strong network of retail shops and innovative gaming technologies creates opportunities for strong customer engagement. By aligning Snaitech’s local leadership position with the capabilities of Sisal and Flutter, the acquisition aims to improve Flutter’s position in one of Europe’s largest and most competitive markets.
Flutter’s integration strategy builds a competitive advantage that is fuelled by the Flutter Edge. As regulatory landscapes shift and new markets open, this disciplined approach, combined with the expertise to spot exciting new opportunities, will be vital towards ensuring Flutter retains its leading edge in gaming and entertainment worldwide.
