Ebbe Groes steers through the complex iGaming M&A maze

As the iGaming sector’s M&A activity heats up, we spoke with EveryMatrix’s CEO, Ebbe Groes. His company recently made waves with the all-cash acquisition of FSB Technology, sparking a great deal of industry interest.

In 2024’s first half, global M&As reached an impressive $1.5 trillion, a 22 percent increase from the previous year, according to a London Stock Exchange report. Deals over $10 billion surged by 70 percent, showcasing the scale and ambition of these ventures.

Groes provides an intriguing insight into the strategic tactics driving the sector’s voracious M&A activity. With technological advancements and a growing user base, the iGaming industry is ripe for M&A.

Groes on M&A

LH: EveryMatrix has recently acquired FSB Technology, which has been described as the company’s “most ambitious acquisition to date”. Could you elaborate on the strategic rationale behind this acquisition and how it aligns with EveryMatrix’s overall M&A strategy?

Ebbe Groes: We identified FSB towards the end of last year and engaged in various negotiations. The core rationale was to take the union of both these companies and produce something even better than each of us has done as standalone businesses.

Being a successful B2B supplier is all about scale, to secure many clients, to build successful technologies once and to sell them many times over. This gives you the profitability you need to keep investing in the product. With FSB added to the group we immediately have better scale, plus market entry into new territories such as the UK & Ireland and to further expand in Africa.

Exciting is an overused word but this really does qualify as just that in our universe. This is a big step up for EveryMatrix. I’m really happy to invite the FSB clientele into the EveryMatrix family and see it as a great opportunity to return to our roots in London where we first started which is very close to where FSB’s office is today.

For me personally it’s exciting to have a chance to put London back on the map for us. In many ways this is the birthplace of online and offline gambling, this is where you have to be and we’re very happy to be back where it all started.

LH: How does the acquisition of FSB Technology strengthen EveryMatrix’s sportsbook platform, OddsMatrix? What unique capabilities does FSB bring to the table?

Ebbe Groes: We look upon this acquisition as a fantastic opportunity to make EveryMatrix even better in many dimensions but especially in sportsbook. FSB has always prioritised sportsbook as the core of its success. They’ve been delivering turnkey sportsbook as their lead product and this is something we can really use.

We’ve had some fantastic turnkey wins and delivered some highly complex turnkey projects in the last few years including Bet-at-home and the Hungarian Lottery so we’ve proven we are a tier-1 provider. By taking our two strengths and adding them together, this will allow us to stand out as the leading B2B supplier with the best turnkey solution when you look at it from a sportsbook perspective.

Another main strength is how strong FSB are in horse racing. They have an in-house trading team who have worked on this product for many years and dedicated clients where horse racing is at the forefront of everything they do.

It’s different from what we’ve known and done but with this product and FSB, alongside their knowhow, technology and client base we stand to greatly benefit and become even stronger than we are today.

LH: Can you share some insights into EveryMatrix’s M&A activity in the past and how it has shaped the company’s current position in the iGaming industry?

Ebbe Groes: We’ve previously acquired two other businesses; LeapBit in May 2022, a retail focused sports technology enabling us to create a fully omni-channel sportsbook offering across retail, online and mobile; and in June 2023 we acquired DeepCI (now PartnerMatrix Intelligence) .

Recently integrated with our affiliate management platform offering PartnerMatrix, PartnerMatrix Intelligence provides customers with unique AI-driven data analysis of any affiliate pages in the world enabling them to take instant, actionable decisions on where best to allocate resources, how best to optimise their campaigns, for example and therefore really drive efficiencies and revenues.

Both these deals have enabled us to grow in both sports and affiliate marketing, strengthening our offering, scaling both business units and adding even more unique firepower to our modular B2B software.

LH: How do you see the future of M&A in the iGaming sector, particularly in the context of industry consolidation?

Ebbe Groes: M&A and consolidation may have slowed down compared to say five years ago, but there is an increasing amount of innovation in this sector and many more startups and disruptors coming through. This is particularly the case in data automation and AI across all areas of iGaming. I can see these being very relevant and hugely beneficial to both operators and suppliers in the years to come.

LH: What is EveryMatrix’s appetite for future M&A activities? Are there specific areas or markets that the company is looking to expand into through acquisitions?

Ebbe Groes: Completing the FSB deal has been a big achievement for us and is our most ambitious acquisition to date, by value, size, and complexity. Our ability to quickly transact and get this over the line so smoothly has been very impressive.

We paid for these deals with our own profits and by reinvesting the funds we’ve generated through our rapid growth to enable us to grow even more in the future. This has been a very successful model. I would never rule anything out, but for now we’re focusing on incorporating key FSB features into our offering, including what has been recognised as one of the strongest horse racing products among sportsbook providers, and to migrate FSB customers to our technology platforms.

These customers will also benefit from our superior modular products including casino, games and aggregation, payments, player account management, managed services and affiliate management and data tracking. Once migrated to OddsMatrix, they will gain access to proven, tier-1 sportsbook and odds feeds products, as well as our technology, development and resource pipeline, decades of industry expertise within our 1,000 employee strong workforce across 13 locations worldwide and a global network of partners.

LH: Lastly, how does EveryMatrix plan to integrate its acquisitions and ensure they contribute to the company’s long-term growth strategy?

Ebbe Groes: We’ve proven this with LeapBit and are close to announcing our first large-scale, fully omni-channel customer, while DeepCI, now PartnerMatrix Intelligence, has been a great success in driving more revenue by onboarding many new customers, and we expect that to grow even more following its integration with PartnerMatrix.

SiGMA News spoke with Ebbe Groes, CEO of EveryMatrix. Groes pursued a PhD at K?benhavns Universitet – University of Copenhagen and spent a year as a visiting scholar in Economics at Harvard University. In 2008, he co-founded EveryMatrix, a Malta-based B2B technology provider for the iGaming industry. Before this, he served as Director and Investor at Shopbox, CEO of BetBrain Ltd in the UK, and CEO of Kapow Technologies.

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