Entain Bids $1B for Betting Company with NBA Ties

Entain is offering more than $1 billion for a set of betting properties that includes certain overseas NBA gambling rights.

The U.K.-based company made a bid for Olympic Entertainment Company, an Estonian entity that owns casinos and online gambling properties in the Baltic region. 

Olympic has been an official NBA betting partner since striking a multiyear deal with the league in August 2020.

• Olympic may use official NBA data for betting purposes in Estonia, Latvia, and Slovakia.
• The company, one of the largest gambling operators in the region, allows NBA gambling at over 100 casinos and betting halls, as well as online through its platform, OlyBet. 
• It also offers a version of the league’s free-to-play game “NBA Pick ‘Em,” tailored toward Eastern Europe. 

Olympic is one of the last properties still held by Novalpina Capital, a private equity firm that fell apart amid a dispute between its three founders. Investors voted to move the firm’s remaining holdings to Berkeley Research Group earlier this year.

Entain itself was a sought-after acquisition target. DraftKings made a $22.4 billion bid for the company, but talks ended earlier this month without a deal. The transaction was complicated by Entain’s joint ownership of BetMGM with MGM Resorts.