Ladbrokes owner Entain buys Avid Gaming for CAD300m

Ladbrokes owner Entain said on Monday that it has bought Canada’s Avid Gaming for CAD300m (£174m) from Middlebrook Investments Limited.

Avid Gaming owns online sports betting brand Sports Interaction. It is headquartered in Jersey in the Channel Islands, with offices in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawà:ke and Ireland.

Avid exclusively licenses the Sports Interaction trademark and provides proprietary online betting and gaming products and services to the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke and the Mohawk Online socioeconomic initiative.

Entain said Canada is a "highly attractive" and fast-growing sports betting and gaming market and that together with its application for an Ontario licence, this acquisition provides "an excellent opportunity to drive further growth".

Sports Interaction generated EBITDA of CAD18m (£10.4m ) and pre-tax profits CAD17.4m (£10.1m) in the year ended 31 December 2021 .

Entain chief executive Jette Nygaard-Andersen said: "Sports Interaction is the leading Canadian sports betting and gaming brand and is aligned perfectly with our own ambitions of great customer service and ambitious growth, coupled with an unwavering commitment to sustainability.

"It is highly complementary to our existing operations in Canada, and the combination of its local expertise and Entain's powerful platform will provide customers with an unrivalled range of exciting and engaging products in this fast-growing market."

At 1600 GMT, Entain shares were up 2.9% at 1,618.50p.