Sportradar has announced the closure of its IMG Arena acquisition, which sees the supplier take over the company and its attached sports betting rights portfolio as part of a unique transaction structure.
Indeed, what is unique about this handover is the fact that - as the merger is anticipated to be accretive and beneficial to Sportradar's financial margins - the company has not been required to pay an acquisition fee, but has rather received a total consideration of $225m in price adjustable cash prepayments over a two year period.
As part of the transaction, the supplier will officially take over a portfolio of 70+ rights holders which deliver 38,000 data events and 29,000 streaming events globally.
Following this, the deal has been subject to a number of necessary regulatory checks, with the UK Gambling Commission conducting a successful inquiry into the acquisition this summer. Now, in the wake of official UK Government Competition and Markets Authority clearance earlier this month, the merger has successfully reached its conclusion.
Speaking on this latest update, Carsten Koerl, Chief Executive Officer of Sportradar, stated: "We are pleased to complete the acquisition of IMG Arena. This marks a significant milestone for Sportradar expanding our access to premium sports content that strengthens and complements our already robust global portfolio and capabilities.
"With this, we are uniquely positioned to deliver even more immersive, data-rich experiences to our clients, partners and fans around the world while accelerating innovation at scale across the global sports ecosystem."
This announcement falls closely behind an additional significant milestone for the business, which was granted an official UAE gaming-vendor licence last month, making it the first dedicated sports betting supplier active within the nation's market.
This transaction was initially unveiled as part of Sportradar's full-year 2024 financial results, which saw the company report a healthy 26.1% year-on-year revenue rise to $1.28bn
