The old bull and bush: The event in Malta kicked off with a panel looking at investment trends and in particular the great catalyst of the US. Tim Heath, general partner of Yolo Investments and founder of Yolo Group, said the market had now entered the FOMO stage, suggesting that those currently working towards deals should “enjoy it while you can”. Similarly, Julian Buhagiar, partner at RB Capital, said he was “worried about what comes around the corner.”
Small print watch: Richard Carter, former CEO at SBTech and now CEO at Bragg Gaming, said the predominance of SPAC deals earlier this year had necessarily meant that “less due diligence” was completed on deals. Note: the DraftKings/SBTech deal was, er, completed via a SPAC merger. “Most analysts don’t look at the 300 pages of IPO documents,” he added. “But now investors are getting a bit pickier.”
Falling and laughing: Consolidation will be the major theme, suggested Carter, who noted that current valuations only be justified if each operator achieved a market share in sports-betting of 30-40%.
“Some of the smaller players will need to consolidate and you will need more of that,” Carter added. “If you’re sat in the DraftKings boardroom you know all this.”
The great siege: The other subject of discussion in Malta right now is the move made earlier this year by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which saw the country grey-listed (set your irony measures to high). The latest comment from the anti-money-laundering body is that Malta has made “good progress” on its action plan to get off the naughty step and this will be welcomed by the online sector. On a CEO panel this week, Michael Daly, CEO at Catena Media which is headquartered in Malta, said it “needs to be resolved soon” if it isn’t to harm the prospects of the island’s online sector.
