Evolution Secures U.K. Competition Authority Approval For NetEnt Merger

Evolution, one of the biggest providers of live casino software and content, has received the approval of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the United Kingdom for the proposed acquisition of NetEnt.

Earlier this year, Evolution announced its offer to acquire NetEnt, and even though the bid received immediate support from the board and shareholders, it still had to go through competition approvals in different countries.

The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority has approved the proposed acquisition in September. At the same time, the Competition and Markets Authority in the United Kingdom launched their investigation regarding the deal that is worth around 2.2 billion dollars.

Evolution, formerly known as Evolution Gaming, is the current market leader when it comes to providing B2B live casino services, and the company has already received several awards for their work in this field.

There are currently over 3,500 people working for the company in the several offices and studios that they operate in Latvia, Canada and the United Kingdom. They provide live casino services to over 100 operators at the moment, both online and at brick-and-mortar locations.

NetEnt is one of the most reputable companies in this industry, established way back in 1996. Now they employ more than 1,000 people in several locations and their games are available at more than 170 online casino operators.

In 2013, NetEnt started streaming live dealer games from their studio in Malta, using the latest technology to provide an authentic gambling experience. The company is licensed in several jurisdictions, and their games have also been available in Canada since 2018, through an agreement with International Game Technology and the British Columbia Lottery Corporation.

The merger of these two companies would create a real industry giant, with power to innovate and create exciting new products and services for an ever-growing customer base.

Both companies have done very well this year, despite the challenges brought forward by the coronavirus pandemic. Evolution generated revenues of 140 million euros in the third quarter of 2020, and that’s a growth of 48% compared to the same period of 2019.

The profits were substantial as well, amounting to 79.4 million euros, which is double compared to what they got during the same three months last year.

On the other hand, NetEnt reported an increase in revenues of almost 17% in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the same period of last year, generating around 50 million euros.

Source: “Evolution Gets CMA Approval for NetEnt Acquisition“. European Gaming. November 17, 2020.