Kindred Group to Acquire Full Ownership of Relax Gaming

The Kindred Group (STO: KIND-SDB) has agreed to acquire the remaining shares in Relax Gaming in a deal that values the company at €320 million.

Since 2013, Kindred has been the largest shareholder in Relax, holding 33.4% of the shares. Now the company will pay roughly €295 million to buy the remaining 66.6% of shares. The money is to be split into an initial consideration of €80 million and two earn-out payments of up to €113 million to be paid in 2022 and 2023. Kindred will be financing the acquisition through existing cash and credit facilities.

Through this acquisition, we add a rapidly growing and profitable B2B business with a world-class product portfolio, giving us greater control over our casino, poker and bingo offering, putting Kindred in a significantly better position to achieve our long-term strategy to increase our focus on product differentiation and customer experience.

Henrik TjärnströmKindred Chief Executive

Relax was founded in 2010. The company develops online casino games, an open distribution platform for third-party aggregation, as well as bingo and poker products. The company’s offices are in Malta, Estonia, Sweden, and Serbia, and they employ roughly 240 people. In the 12 months to May 2021, Relax made €25m in revenue and its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were €10m.

Kindred intends to operate Relax as an independent entity within the group, with its own board of directors and management team. It also plans to continue investing in Relax in order to consolidate and improve upon its position in the market.Kindred intends to operate Relax as an independent entity within the group, with its own board of directors and management team. It also plans to continue investing in Relax in order to consolidate and improve upon its position in the market.

Patrik Österåker, the Relax co-founder and chairman, said that the acquisition is a “natural next step” in the relationship between the two companies. He explained that Kindred’s presence would allow Relax to invest in and accelerate the expansion of its B2B offering around the world, adding, “We will continue the Relax Gaming journey as a separate B2B entity with unchanged product portfolio and overall strategy, staying true to our values and respecting the hard-earned trust of our customers.”

More Business News