Polish Sports Betting Company Announces Investment Arm

Poland’s biggest sports betting company — STS Holding SA — says it wants to use the $266 million raised in its IPO toward an investment arm.

The company plans to invest in Warsaw-listed stocks in the technology, ecommerce, and real estate sectors, which will take up 20% to 30% of the company’s portfolio, according to CEO Mateusz Juroszek.

As of February 2021, STS has a 45.8% market share in Poland. The company is led by the Juroszek family, which owned 100% of company shares before the company’s public listing. 

• The Juroszeks own 10% stakes in asset managers Skarbiec Holding SA and Quercus TFI SA.
• The family also owns stakes in Flutter Entertainment, Evolution AB, and Better Collective — and are looking for more investment opportunities in the U.S.
• The company is reportedly eyeing Poland’s largest ecommerce platform, Allegro, despite its stocks dropping 56% due to Amazon’s entrance into the Polish market.

“We look for targets in central and Eastern Europe, but we don’t have anything precise on the radar,” Juroszek said.

Juroszek doesn’t expect the investment entity to be fully up and running for as many as five years. It will also include dividends from the family’s home building business, Atal SA. STS’ IPO put the company at double Atal’s value.