igamingbusiness . com
What ’ s your view ? Tweet @ iGamingBusiness
25
ACROUD Q2 REVIEW
WHAT ROBERT ANDERSSON DID NEXT
The ex-CEO at Catena Media , Robert Andersson , arguably the architect of the buy-andbuild strategies seen across the gaming affiliate sector , is now the CEO at Acroud where he has taken a different tack to seek out further growth .
It comes via the provision of affiliate services as a service , and since the acquisition of a clutch of businesses including Matching Visions , Voonix and DreamStream , the company has indeed seen an increase in its revenues ( Chart 23 ) via what Andersson said is a “ strategic remodelling ”.
To continue this growth path , in October Acroud completed a € 5.1m acquisition of an unnamed affiliate business to form a new ad buying arm , Acroud Media . According to Companies House , Acroud Media was founded in June by Gary Gillies , who sold the SBAT business to Catena in 2016 , with Catena ’ s former GM of growth Darren Colebrook installed as CEO , fuelling speculation that the assets were purchased from Catena .
Acroud further enhanced its buyout capabilities with a SEK225m bond that replaces a previous SEK300m bond . Andersson told investors on the earnings call that the bond gave the company a platform from which to reach the
Chart 23 : Acroud revenues Q220-Q222 (€ m )
€ m
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
3.6
2.4 2.5
“ next level ”. “ It ’ s a sign of strength from the company ,” he added .
On the acquisition , he said due diligence had been “ taking a while ” but gave a few further details on the business in question , saying it was a “ predominantly ” Europeanfocused sports betting affiliate provider with predominantly revenue-share income .
This would further augment Acroud ’ s European focus where , as
5.6
6.2
6.5 6.5
Q220 Q320 Q420 Q121 Q221 Q321 Q421 Q122 Q222
Chart 24 : Acroud
: revenue revenue by geography by geography
(%)
(%)
North America 15 %
Source : Company reports
Rest of world 14 %
Geographic split
Europe 71 %
of the second quarter , it generated 71 % of revenues versus 15 % from North America and 13 % from the rest of the world ( Chart 24 ).
Within that , Andersson said , the UK is now the biggest component . One further interesting geographical comment was about the Netherlands , which he said had “ not yet developed into a full functional market ” since it regulated in October last year .
7
7.2
November 2022