I NSI GH T
B E T TER CO L L E CT IV E
T O RA M P U P M& A A F TE R F LO AT
Following eight acquisitions last year, Denmark-based affiliate company
Better Collective is looking to accelerate its buying spree. CEO Jesper Søgaard
spoke to iGB Affiliate ahead of the company’s IPO in early June
IT’S BEEN A BUSY FEW MONTHS for Better Collective.
Now its CEO Jesper Søgaard says he is looking
to accelerate the company’s buying spree after
trading in its shares began on Nasdaq Stockholm
on Friday 8 June.
Already this year, the group has acquired
Finnish affiliate Premium Administration OU
and Danish brand SpilXperten.com, as well as
entered into letters of intent to acquire two other
European igaming affiliates.
It also recently launched a US-facing site,
us-bookies.com, to establish a position in the US
market following the decision to repeal PASPA.
iGB Affiliate: Why have you decided
on a float over other money-raising options?
It would seem to introduce a lot of extra
red tape for a business of your scale.
Jesper Søgaard: One big benefit of opting for the
float rather than other manners of fundraising is
that Christian Kirk Rasmussen and I can remain
in control of Better Collective, rather than simply
having private equity with veto rights. We love
Better Collective, we know the amazing road we
have ahead of us, and we are excited to remain in
the driver’s seat. Additionally, from a corporate
branding perspective, we believe it is quite attractive
for us to be a listed company.
iGBA: Why now? Was the confirmation of Sweden
re-regulating a factor and/or are there any
other external factors?
JS: There are multiple factors that have played
into our decision to list right now. One of the
main reasons is that we have a strong pipeline
of M&A targets, and the injection of capital
we will receive will help us meet these goals.
iGBA: Will your criteria for acquisitions change
after listing and what will it be? Is there a starting
point in terms of revenues/scale and are you
looking to diversify outside of your main sector
of sports betting?
industry. On top of that, we are looking to continue
building strong market positions in regulated and
taxed markets. These markets are much more stable
and predictable, making them appealing for ourselves
and our investors.
iGBA: Apart from acquisitions, is there anything
else in particular you’re intending to spend
the funds on?
JS: No, not really. The M&A strategy is what
led us to our decision in the first place, and it
remains our priority after the listing.
iGBA: Will you be cutting out or perhaps
phasing out activity in unregulated markets
after the float as was the case for XLMedia?
JS: Better Collective is in a fortunate position
in that we already have a high degree of our
revenue coming from regulated markets,
and these markets are where we are
focusing our continuing M&A efforts.
So the need to phase out activity in
unregulated markets is not big worry
of ours at the moment.
iGBA: You’ve mentioned the repeal
of PASPA in the prospectus as
something that will create new
opportunities for affiliates.
What plans do you have for
the US market?
JS: The repeal of PASPA is
great news for our industry.
We have plans for the further
development of our own
products (for example,
us-bookies.com) and
are interested in
M&A opportunities
in the USA.
JS: As it stands right now, we will continue to target
sports betting, as our strength in this area is one
of our biggest competitive advantages within our
iGB Affiliate Issue 69 JUN/JUL 2018
45