Multichoice Announced Plans to Increase it Stake in BetKing

Multichoice has announced a formal offer of around R4 billion (USD 281.5m) to increase its shareholding in Blue Lake Ventures Limited (Betking) from 20% to 49 per cent, the company board announced. The board approved the formal offer to acquire more of the sports betting company on June 10, 2021.

However, the request is subject to the substantive conditions being met and the transaction becoming effective. The equity investment will also result in the payment of the contingent consideration of USD31m (ZAR 0.5bn) relating to the acquisition of the first 20 per cent in BetKing. This comes after MultiChoice announced in November last year that it had acquired a 20 per cent stake in Betking for approximately R1.8 billion. “Sports betting is an interesting market that is aligned to our Pay-TV business“, MultiChoice group CEO Calvo Mawela said at the time. “We have a lot of sport on our platform and, many people that are betting watch more games.” Betking started in Nigeria, and Mawela said it had shown rapid growth over two and a half years. “They plan to be pan-African and will be entering South Africa at some stage too,” Mawela said.

Meanwhile, Multichoice is Africa’s leading entertainment company showcasing compelling local and international stories creating and secures the rights to phenomenal content from all over the world, bringing people together around a shared passion. BetKing is a sports betting and Entertainment brand launched on February 22, 2018, in Lagos. Since then, the company has expanded its footprints to Kenya and Ethiopia and the leading sponsor for both Kenya Premier and Ethiopian Premier League.

In essence, it has significant betting operations in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Kenya. As of June last year started the soccer sponsorship for Kenya and Ethiopia in December, same here in its home country; it also sponsors an athletic competition named Betking Making of Champions (MoC). It has also built an agent network. In addition, it has more than 8,000 retail operations in part through a commission structure that offers shop-owners up to 30 per cent for the transaction via equipment it provides.

It is quite an astonishing development for the Africa gaming industry and a testament to the growth of Betking, which is just over 3 in the Africa sports betting scene. This, of course, an eye-opener that the Africa gambling industry is booming in the last couple of years especially sports betting is the preferred choice for bettors and mobile-first tools for carrying out their daily activities as contributed astronomically to Africa.

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Adeleye Awakan

Author E-play Africa, sports betting reviews, thoughtful leardership articles in Africa gambling industry, marketing gaming platforms in Africa with strong networking relationship with gaming operators in Africa, Expertise in PR, marketing communication, and consultant on gaming in Africa.

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Adeleye Awakan

Author E-play Africa, sports betting reviews, thoughtful leardership articles in Africa gambling industry, marketing gaming platforms in Africa with strong networking relationship with gaming operators in Africa, Expertise in PR, marketing communication, and consultant on gaming in Africa.