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Affiliate Monitor A dead parrot
It said it would use the cash in part to pay off transaction costs and a final deferred payment for its previously acquired US assets . The remainder of the cash would then be returned to shareholders .
XL added that the deal would leave the business to focus on “ delivering value for shareholders ” from its North America business .
The company gave a timeline to its transition from being a global , largely European-facing business towards its North American incarnation . It pointed out that this journey had started in 2020 with its first US acquisition , with the unit growing in importance over the subsequent three years , even while what had become a troubled European business returned to growth last year .
“ The board believes the sale of these assets , which is approximately two times the current market capitalisation of the whole company , is an excellent outcome for XLMedia and its shareholders ,” non-executive chairman Marcus Rich said of the divestment . “ Importantly , this transaction will allow the company to clear legacy liabilities , provide working capital and return cash to shareholders .”
SAME , SAME BUT DIFFERENT
The pattern of a previously European-focused betting and gaming affiliate business moving towards becoming hugely North
Chart 1 : Catena Media geographic split Q320-Q423 (%)
Q423 (%)
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Q320 Q420 Q121 Q221 Q321 Q421 Q122 Q222 Q322 Q422 Q123 Q223 Q323 Q423
Source : company reports
American-focused before finally shedding the previous mainstay businesses in favour of the newer transatlantic possibilities has , of course , been seen before .
And very recently too . Last November , Catena Media completed the sale of the Italian sports betting and icasino assets for € 19.8m and thus concluded its own strategic review process which had seen it complete a number of disposals , including the sale of the AskGamblers business . Indeed , those deals and
“ XL pointed out that this journey to its new North American incarnation had started in 2020 with its first US acquisition ”
RoW
US
others under the review brought in € 76m in total sales for Catena , which saw it become an almost wholly North American-focused affiliate provider .
As can be seen from Chart 1 above , in terms of percentages the amount now coming from North America represents 85 % of the business while the rest of the world – largely Asia-Pacific – is now worth a rump 15 %.
As with XLMedia , the disposal necessarily left Catena Media a much-diminished business . As is discussed later in this report , revenues at Catena in the fourth quarter stood at € 14.5m vs . revenues at the company ’ s recent peak in 2022 of over € 45m in the first quarter of 2022 .
This kind of rationalisation doesn ’ t come without its own disruptions , however . Subsequent to the news of the completion of the strategic review and the publishing of Catena ’ s much iGB Affiliate Monitor