Sky completes sale of remaining Sky Bet stake to PokerStars owner for £635m
Sky today confirmed it had sold its remaining stake in Sky Bet to Canadian online gambling company The Stars Group.
The media giant confirmed it had completed its sell off its 20 per cent stake in Sky Betting & Gaming for a total of £635m.
Toronto-based The Stars Group, which owns PokerStars, PokerStars Casino, BetStars and Full Tilt, spilt the offer into £426m in cash and 7.6m shares, valued at around £208m. Sky will continue to license the Sky Betting & Gambling brands to The Stars Group.
The deal was announced in April, as Sky flogged off of its majority stake in the betting website to private equity group CVC in 2015. The deal to sell to the Stars Group was announced by Sky and CVC back in April.
Read more: Sky and CVC sell Sky Bet to Canadian owner of Pokerstars in £3.6bn deal
Sky said the extra funds would go towards cutting down debt and investing in growth opportunities.
In a statement, Rafi Ashkenazi, The Star Group chief exec said:
SBG's mobile-focused sportsbook pairs well with our industry-leading poker offering to create two premier customer acquisition channels. We believe this combination along with our combined online casino offerings positions The Stars Group for continued growth in the evolving online gaming industry
This transaction creates the world's largest publicly listed online gaming company and unites two iconic brand portfolios with strong technology platforms and teams. This significant scale also positions The Stars Group to both secure and expand upon its global footprint.