News
German operator reportedly teams up with Centerbridge to bid for Tipico.
Deutsche Telekom is seeking to buy a minority stake in German sports betting company Tipico, it emerged this week.
The German incumbent has teamed up with investment firm Centerbridge to make an offer for Tipico, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a pair of unnamed sources.
Centerbridge would acquire the majority of Tipico, while Deutsche Telekom would take a smaller stake, the sources said.
Tipico is being sold by auction and the process is drawing to a close, Reuters said. Final bids are due at the end of next week.
Private equity firm CVC, which owns Sky Bet, is also expected to bid, as is China’s Xio Group.
Deutsche Telekom’s interest in the company is in line with its strategy. The telco owns a 64% stake in Deutsche Sportwetten, owner of Austrian betting group Tipp3, which launched a service in Germany last year, according to the newswire.
Furthermore, Deutsche Telekom has rights to show certain sports via its Internet service and could pick up rights to some Bundesliga football, which could be of benefit to Tipico. As one of the sources pointed out, the presence of Deutsche Telekom amongst its shareholders could make the betting firm less reliant on Sky for live sports feeds.
Centerbridge/Deutsche Telekom’s offer could value Tipico at around €1 billion, or around nine times EBITDA.
