Las Vegas Sands is planning to enter the online gambling space via M&A, but it is in no rush to get the check book out.
Las Vegas Sands’ Q4 earnings provided minimal certainty on when the group will reopen its Macau and Singapore casino strongholds, but for those following the online sports betting industry, there were mild hopes that the company would provide some information on how it would move in on the digital betting (or gaming) space.
The talk within industry circles is that LVS is looking for M&A targets to acquire in the online gambling space. The group has openly admitted that is the case, but has also stated that it will not pay over the odds and, importantly, wants to enter via the B2B door.
The reason is simple: being a B2C brand, especially in online sports betting (OSB), comes with huge marketing costs that many industry observers feel are already not sustainable. In addition, with regard to OSB the top four brands in nearly every state control 85-95% of the handle, with the rest of the handle split between five to 15 other operators.
As the team sat Deutsche Bank commented recently: “1+1 is unlikely to equal 2 from a revenue perspective and would-be buyers are more likely to be entities outside of the space at present, and as such, the competitive set would be unlikely to shrink, and more likely to make the environment more competitive, should they enter the fray.”
No rush
During management’s call with analysts, COO Patrick Dumont said LVS was “always interested in digital”, recent stories linking the group to bids for 888 and more recently the live casino supplier Evolution were denied by LVS, but CEO Rob Goldstein also pointed out that LVS was considering all markets and “not just looking at sports betting”. “There are a variety of opportunities and we are looking at long-term ROI that can blossom into something meaningful.”
This is a line that has been echoed repeatedly by executives across the group, one of them recently telling Wagers.com that it would not be rushed into hastily acquiring an online gambling-focused company, “just because everyone is jumping on that train” and that it wanted to build with a view to the long term when it comes to online gambling.
When it comes to timing, the group has also seen the competitive and cost pressures betting brands have been under and is happy to sit things out. “I believe there’ll be a day when sports betting and iGaming are very successful businesses and we’ll continue to look at the opportunity,” added Goldstein.
“Waiting patiently as we have been has not been a bad idea as we see how this shakes out. There’s been a lot of blood split. But I think we’ll continue to evaluate to see if there’s an entry point that makes sense for LVS,” Rob Goldstein, Las Vegas Sands CEO
Narrow options
Entering the B2B space does narrow down the options, however. On the sports betting front, the number of suppliers that have the scale and U.S. client base that could be of interest to LVS is small.
The likes of OpenBet, Sportradar or Genius Sports have either been acquired or are set on specific paths that make a sale unlikely. Kambi could be an option, although sources close to the company recently dismissed that possibility.
With online casino, the news that came out of the Evolution Gaming rumor also showed that both groups have similar market caps of around $29bn. This would make a deal very onerous for LVS and Evolution shareholders would be required to accept a lot of LVS shares instead of cash. In addition, the online casino vertical is much more profitable than online sports wagering in the U.S, but it is only regulated in five states, with little certainty that more jurisdictions will legalize it in the near future.
Interestingly though, LVS’s focus on B2B would generate cash returns and profits much more quickly than a B2C acquisition. In any case, the group is happy to take its time with its M&A strategy, it has $2bn on the balance sheet and is set to bank $6bn from selling its Las Vegas assets.
But with M&A activity at peak levels across the whole sector for some time and with LVS knowing to be on the lookout for a target, bid speculation and chatter is unlikely to subside any time soon.
