888 Holdings PLC (LON:888) has strengthened its hand in the online bingo market through the acquisition of a clutch of brands from JPJ Group PLC (LON:JPJ) for £18mln.
Costa Bingo, City Bingo and Sing Bingo all already appear on 888’s Dragonfish platform but instead of licensing them, 888 will now own them itself.
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The transaction will be met in cash with £12mln paid on closing the deal and the rest to be paid in September 2019.
Mandalay, as JPJ calls the business being sold, generated £11mln of revenue and approximately £3.7mln of profit in 2018.
Main market-listed JPJ says it wants to concentrate on its JackpotJoy brand.
Itai Pazner, 888’s chief executive, said the brands being bought had originally been developed on the Dragonfish platform.
Consolidating them into its existing B2C portfolio means they can benefit from 888's product, marketing and customer relationship management, he added.