Apollo Global has finalised plans to IPO its Lottomatica business on the Milan Euronext Exchange (Borsa Milan) at the end of April, as the US private equity group upsizes the capitalisation of the Italian gambling group to +€2.5bn.
By returning Lottomatica to the Milan Borsa, dealmakers anticipate raising €425m through the IPO, funds that will be reserved to reward long-term shareholders and reduce its existing debt.
The transactions will see Lottomatica’s net debt is projected to decrease to €1.3bn or approximately 2.4 times the estimated adjusted EBITDA for FY23.
Preliminary earnings for Q1 2023 were also announced, with revenues increasing by 19-20% to reach €421-€423m, and adjusted EBITDA growing by 24-25% to €155-€156m.
The primary growth factor was the company’s online operations, including the recent acquisition of Betflag, which saw a 40% YoY increase. Retail experienced an 18% growth, and the gaming franchise segment rose by 10%.
The company maintained its FY23 revenue guidance of €1.5-€1.6bn and EBITDA of €550-€570m, with online EBITDA expected to be at least €275m.
A Milan listing would see Apollo exit the Italian gambling market, in which the US PE fund backed Italian gambling group Gamenet’s €1bn acquisition of Lottomatica’s B2C assets, undertaken in 2021.
The acquisition transformed the landscape of Italian gambling, as GameNet took the heritage name of Lottomatica to become the market’s biggest land-based operator.
A transformed Lottomatica currently operates a franchise network of 3,000 betting points, 1,400 gaming halls, 13,600 tobacconists/bar gaming machines and 120 gaming venues.
