Just seven (7) months after MultiChoice secured an initial 20 percent stake in BetKing, the South African company that operates DSTV; a major service in Sub Saharan Africa and GOTV; a minor service operating in numerous countries on the African continent, as well as the Showmax service, has revealed plans to increase its shareholding stake in BetKing to 49 percent in a new 281.5 million United States Dollar deal.
Seven months after taking up an initial 20% stake in BetKing, South African pay TV operator MultiChoice plans to increase its shareholding in the online gambling company to 49% in a $281.5 million (30.33 billion Kenyan Shillings) deal.
BetKing is a Pan African sports betting and entertainment business establishment with major operations in Nigeria. It has also expanded its operations to Kenya and Ethiopia.
The value of MultiChoice’s initial investment in BetKing which is the trading name of Blue Lake Ventures Limited, was revealed to be worth 100 million United States Dollars (10.78 billion Kenyan Shillings).
The decision to invest further in the gambling company; BetKing, was approved by the MultiChoice Board on Thursday; the 10th of June 2021. It is in line with the company; MultiChoice’s plan to enlarge its entertainment ecosystem and develop drivers of future value that are meaningful. This is according to a statement from the South African entertainment company.
MultiChoice while explaining the logic behind its decision to increase its investment in BetKing stated that, “Consumers have a growing abundance of entertainment options available to them. It is therefore important for MultiChoice to maintain its relevance and grow its share of engagement time and consumer spend by expanding its entertainment platform with a more comprehensive offering and a greater number of products and services.”
MultiChoice believes that going after something like sports betting, births a “natural extension” to its video entertainment set up and helps it further expand its offerings products wise. In a nutshell, sport betting will help MultiChoice supplement its business especially since sports is already one of its major revenue sources.
BetKing which is popularly referred to as the leading sports betting establishment in Nigeria, was founded by its Chief Executive Officer; Byron Petzer and Adekunle Adeniji who was once the Virtual Product Manager at Bet9ja.
For the financial year that ended in December of 2020 BetKing’s annual statement revealed a growth in revenue to 77.9 million United States Dollars (8.39 billion Kenyan Shillings) which is significantly higher than the 54.7 million United States Dollars (5.89 billion Kenyan Shillings) achieved in the previous year.
Its net asset value on the other hand, was at 100.2 million United States Dollars (10.79 billion Kenyan Shillings).
The above numbers make it even easier to see why BetKing which is so far a top sports betting company, is an attractive investment. Especially when the fact that the market is continue to grow even on the global stage, is put into consideration.
For instance it is projected that the sports betting industry will grow by more than 134 billion United States Dollars (14.43 trillion Kenyan Shillings) between 2020 and 2024. This represents a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 10 percent according to Technavio.
A number of sports betting establishments have operations in Africa. In Kenya for example, Odibets, Betway, 22bet, Betika, Eazibet, Mozzartbet, and Mcheza, are some of the betting companies present in the country.
For Nigeria they include Nairabet, Surebet24, Bet9ja, Sporting Bet, Naijabet, and of course BetKing.
According to reports, Africa accounts for just 2 percent of the total revenue in global sports betting. This is interesting because in Nigeria which is the largest economy in Africa for example, almost 2 billion Naira was spent on sports betting alone every single day. This figure translates to nearly 730 billion Naira in a year or per year.
That 2 percent share is however expected to increase as the regional markets on the continent of Africa continue to expand and catch up. Meaningful growth in the sector, is on the Horizon.
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