Gambling.com files its Nasdaq IPO notice to fuel global growth drive
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Gambling.com Group has filed an F1 notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirming its intent to list on the US Nasdaq.
The notice disclosed that Gambling.com had recruited investment banks Jefferies, Stifel and Truist Securities to lead the IPO’s planning as underwriters, in which no target price or date has been agreed on yet.
The SEC will be charged with reviewing Gambling.com’s financial information, management and corporate prospectus, to provide the regulatory approval of the firm’s desired Nasdaq listing.
Providing a summary of its business, Gambling.com describes itself as the ‘leading provider of digital marketing services’ for the online gambling sector, powered by its proprietary platforms which have established the ‘premier branded websites including Gambling.com and Bookies.com’.
In its breakdown of performance, Gambling.com cited that it had achieved a ‘compound annual growth rate of 35% from 2017-to-2020’ – generating year-on-year revenues of $11 million (FY2017), $19 million (FY2018), $19.27 million (FY2019) and $27.98 million (FY2020).
Record breaking 2020 results, saw Gambling.com reverse its group net losses from -$1.9 million to a net income of $15 million, as the publishing group increased its cash-free flow to $10.8 million.
The prospectus cited Gambling.com’s ambitions to establish the sector’s leading global media and content enterprise guaranteeing ‘value across the industry’s ecosystem, from player to online gambling operator’.
Gambling.com pursues its IPO, to match the new demands of a disrupted global online gambling landscape, in which the market “expected to grow to $113 billion by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 10% from 2019 to 2025” – forecasts cited from H2 Gambling Capital.
Fast changing US dynamics were outlined as key to Gambling.com’s ambitions, as the company seeks to establish the leading affiliate portfolio for a ‘market that could grow to $69 billion if 100% of legalisation is achieved across states.
As operators fight for market share, Gambling.com estimates “that approximately 45% of online gambling operator revenue will be spent on marketing each year as operators seek to establish their brands, based on the historical marketing spend of DraftKings, Rush Street Interactive and Golden Nugget Online Gaming”
“Of this marketing spend we estimate that approximately 29% will be spent on affiliates, based on a February 2019 research report by Pareto Securities. This implies an online gambling affiliate market size of approximately $4 billion at maturity of the U.S. online gambling market,” the firm noted.
Analysing the market, Gambling.com underscored a number of favourable conditions for its business supporting the ‘digital transition of US customers’, expanding its presence within ‘newly soon-to-be regulated markets and witnessing a ‘demand for more professionalised digital marketing and content services’.
Gambling.com highlighted its strategic prowess of having achieved profitability across all operating markets, establishing its business presence within eight European jurisdictions, with its publishing network set to grow in North America and Oceania.
Should Gambling.com secure its IPO, the company will move to aggressively expand its US resources in which the company is currently licensed to offer online gambling media services for the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Colorado, Illinois, Tennessee and Indiana.
Though primarily focused on achieving organic growth, Gambling.com stated that it will assess all potential opportunities in which it may expand its business through M&A.
Highlighting its investor appeal, Gambling.com noted that despite consolidation no online gambling affiliate held more than 5% of the global market share based on the 2020 results of its business and its main competitors of Better Collective and Catena Media – rivals that have aggressively expanded following their listing on the Stockholm Nasdaq.
