Light & Wonder Completes Final Stage of Divestiture Process for OpenBet

After announcing a $400 million cut in the sale price of its sports betting business OpenBet at the beginning of July, Light & Wonder has now announced the completion of the final stage of its gaming transformation. The company has sold the OpenBet platform to the Endeavour Group for $800 million, signaling the $400 million reduction from last September’s negotiated price. Light & Wonder will receive $750 million in cash, which will go through a series of adjustments, and over 2.3 million class A common stock shares. 

Great Cross-Platform Games Coming Next

The Nasdaq-listed company also announced its main focus will fall on creating “great games fully cross-platform”, now that the divestiture of OpenBet has been completed and the organization is prepared to put its growth strategy into practice. Interim chief executive officer Matt Wilson also explained that their research development engine and “world-class talent” allows them to effectively leverage their “leading industry positions” together with their “evergreen franchises and unmatched platforms” for driving significant value. Wilson also took the time to praise their teams’ hard work, efforts, and dedication that helped guarantee a fast and “successful completion of this important transaction”. Wilson called the Endeavor Group the suitable partner for the OpenBet platform while wishing their OpenBet colleagues “all the best” on the “exciting new chapter”. 

Light & Wonder Sold Its Lottery Business & Bought Playzido

As part of the same strategic growth plan, the company also made a series of other important decisions. The list includes the sale of its lottery business, a step that helped Light & Wonder cash in around $5.6 billion. The company also Playzido in May. While the acquisition was considered a small one, its impact was projected to be “outsized”.

All in all, Light & Wonder expects its decisions to fasten its goal to turn into the number one cross-platform global gaming company. The final OpenBet divestiture step helped the company bring important changes to its balance sheet, clearing the way to its planned net debt leverage ratio range between 2.5x and 3.5x. Light & Wonder also expects to generate excess capital via its targeted consolidated AEBITDA of $1.4 billion by the year 2025, a growth profile with two digits, and other similar factors. 

At the end of September, RSI’s RushBet brand partnered with Light & Wonder, a move that will let Light & Wonder assist RSI with streamlining its content and delivering excellent iGaming solutions. The decision will also help Light & Wonder keep its expansion going in the Mexican market.