Rumours Kindred Acquisition by MGM Circulate Again
The name of MGM Resorts has once again been mentioned as a possible candidate to acquire the Swedish operator Kindred. The Kindred Group is the owner of the international Unibet brand which is available in both New Zealand and Australia.
It is not the first time that the name of MGM is mentioned, although it is not the only operator related to a potential acquisition of Kindred. A British gambling provider, whose name has not been disclosed, is also believed to be interested in taking over Kindred. The first rumours of a Kindred sale in wake of the departure of the iGaming concern’s CEO, in May 2023. The rumours have not been confirmed by official sources.
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Results US and Australia Lacking Behind
A possible sale of the Scandinavian operator is due to internal unrest within the organisation and disappointing performances in relatively new markets such as North America and Oceania. Internationally, Unibet has been performing below expectations, which has fueled the rumour mill of a sale. Results in Europe have been better, especially in The Netherlands where the online pokie site made its comeback in July 2022. The well-known American gambling brand MGM Resorts (which is also known for operating large land-based casinos in the United States) is now said to be interested in an acquisition. Other stock market-related platforms name MGM as a candidate to take over Kindred. The Kindred Group itself would have also approached Evolution, Entain, and Flutter Entertainment to see if they might be interested in buying the gambling company.
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Shareholders Want A Sale
In March, Kindred Group launched a report of the “strategic alternatives leading to a potential merger, sale or partial sale”, but shareholders have been trying to push the board toward a sale in recent months. Corvex Management, an investment company that holds more than 10% of the shares in Kindred, is one of the parties that want the group to be sold. Growing pressure for a sale of the group would be the result of poor strategic decisions such as entering the US market at all cost whilst the results outside of Europea have been disappointing. The operator’s progress in expanding its market position in regulated countries is believed to be too slow with Australia mentioned as one of the markets. The lacking results have led to an internal reorganisation with CEO Henrik Tjärnström stepping down after 13 years in command, as well as co-founder Anders Ström, CFO Johan Wilsby, CCO Anne-Jaap Snijders, and CMO Elen Barber.
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About Kindred
Kindred Group is a Swedish online gambling operator that consists of 11 different brands including Bingo.com, Casinohuone, Maria Casino, and Vlad Cazino. The Scandinavian iGaming operator offers a wide range of online gambling services, including online casinos and sports betting, as well as platforms for poker and bingo. If Kindred gets acquired by MGM Resorts it will be added to different sister brands including LeoVegas and PlayMGM with the latter being exclusively available in the US. LeoVegas was purchased in 2022 by MGM for $607 million. A sale of Kindred Group is believed to cost the buyer $4 billion.
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