Where’s private equity putting its money these days?
In addition to any other investments, private money is hot for the online gambling space. They’re hoping — and not without reason — that the bet will come up all aces.
“CVC Capital recently purchased majority ownership of Sky Bet for $1.25 billion, while the Blackstone Group invested $1 billion in Amaya’s $4.9 billion purchase of PokerStars,” notes a recent Market Watch report citing data from Technology Dispatch. “The shares of on-line gamers The Intertain Group (IT.TSX) and Amaya Gaming (AYA.TSX) have risen 290 percent and 360 percent respectively in the last 12 months. They now have a combined market cap of $5.1 billion.”
That’s a lot of moolah.
And — for instance — Imperus announced a debt financing agreement with Third Eye Capital for $45 million (US$40 million) and an equity raise through Dundee Capital for an additional $20 million to purchase Diwip Ltd. – an independent supplier of proprietary software with 24 million registered customers.
“Diwip supplies games to Facebook, iOS, Android, and other social networks. In the last three years its revenues have increased 360 percent from $7.8 million to $28.3 million with its casino-themed games — including slots, bingo, Texas hold’em Poker, roulette, blackjack and video poker – under the Best Casino and Slots Club brands,” says Market Watch.
“This transaction gives us immediate access to a massive user base of well over 20 million people worldwide,” explains Imperus President and CEO, Daniel Kajouie in an exclusive interview with Technology Dispatch, “It also provides us ownership of social casino content with a great financial track record, and we feel we can add more value through our distribution channels.”
Kajouie has said that Imperus is a company straddling the border between social gaming and “real money gaming.”
“We have the software and the technical know-how to add, create, or port the elements that are currently in the social theater and transform them into real money gaming,” stated Kajouie, “So the synergy of this acquisition goes beyond just a purchase of a great technology company with impressive cash flow.”
The timing could be perfect for Imperus.
“The timing of the acquisition is advantageous for Imperus shareholders because Diwip has already invested heavily to transition their popular titles to mobile devices,” stated Kajouie, “We are the beneficiary of that upside. The investment has already been made. The games are just rolling out this month, being deployed to the App Store and Google Play.”
Kajouie is as serious as … well … a poker player.
“Over the next 12 months we intend to become one of the larger social casino, social gaming companies,” stated Kajouie, “We are going to leverage the combined skill of Imperus and Diwip to transition social gaming and real money applications into the mobile environment.”
Imperus currently trades at .51 with a market cap of $29.8 million.
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