Does Entain want to give up its online poker business?

According to the latest rumours, the billion-dollar gaming group Entain is looking for a buyer for its online poker business. In recent years, the relevance of the poker business for the company has continued to decline. But how high is the target purchase price for the poker vertical and which platform are we talking about here?

It was only at the end of January this year that we reported on Entain's plans to withdraw from over 140 unregulated markets. Now, for almost two weeks, rumours have been circulating that Entain is also planning to completely abandon its poker vertical. Poker has been more or less on the sidelines at Entain for several years now. Specifically, a possible sale would involve the partypoker brand, which has been very successful, at least until recently, not only in German-speaking countries.

Entain to sell poker business for £150 million

According to unconfirmed reports, Entain is looking to sell its online poker business for £150 million. This is roughly equivalent to 175 million euros. Financial advisors from Oakvale Capital are currently looking for interested parties for partypoker. One potential buyer could be MGM Resorts, which operates BetMGM Poker in three US states in partnership with partypoker.

We also recently reported on GambleJoe that the Entain share is on the upswing. At that time in January 2024, the share price was around EUR 11. In the meantime, the share price has fallen again and is now only EUR 8.60 (as at 20 March 2024). Overall, Entain is currently struggling with many hurdles on the international markets. As a result, the company had to absorb a loss of almost one billion euros last year alone.

Partypoker: from market leader to underdog

Partypoker was founded over 20 years ago by PartyGaming online. For several years, partypoker was the number 1 in the international online poker business. In 2005, the company was even valued at around 4.6 billion euros. However, after partypoker had to leave the US market just one year later, its success plummeted again.

In the course of time, partypoker merged with bwin in 2011 and was ultimately taken over by Entain in 2015. In the meantime, partypoker only plays an insignificant role in the international online poker business. In the event of a sale of partypoker, it can be assumed that the brand will withdraw from at least some markets.

In addition to partypoker, Entain is also rumored to be interested in selling the Crystalbet, Corla, Foxy Bingo and Foxy Games brands.

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