888 completes Mandalay acquisition from JPJ Group

JPJ Group has completed the £18m sale of its Mandalay operating business to Brigend Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 888 Holdings.

The deal was originally announced last month and will see 888 initially pay £12m and then the remaining £6m during September 2019.

Costa Bingo, City Bingo and Sing Bingo are just a few of the brands secured by 888 in an attempt to reignite its bingo vision as revenue in that market decreased by a whopping 17% during 2018 compared to the previous year.

The acquired bingo sites already run on Dragonfish software, therefore players shouldn’t see too much disruption.

This is the second deal to be confirmed in 2019, as 888 also announced it had purchased Irish sportsbook operator BetBright for £15m.

Itai Pazner, chief executive officer of 888, said when the purchase was first announced: “The group continues to deliver its stated strategy of expanding across global regulated markets. This expansion is underpinned by organic growth initiatives supported by exploring value-enhancing M&A.

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of this portfolio of brands which includes the well-established Costa Bingo. Having been developed on Dragonfish, the group’s first-class B2B platform, we are confident that consolidating these brands into our existing B2C portfolio will deliver synergies and growth opportunities by applying the full extent of 888’s core capabilities in product, marketing and customer relationship management to their operations.”