Allwyn Entertainment, the new group-wide brand for Sazka Entertainment AG, a leading multinational lottery operator, announced its plan to list on the New York Stock Exchange after merging with blank-check acquisition group Cohn Robbins Holdings Corp. (CRHC), resulting in an expected total enterprise value for Allwyn of approximately $9.3 billion.
The transaction provides CRHC shareholders the opportunity to establish ownership stakes at a maximum enterprise value of approximately $8.7 billion. CRHC is co-chaired by founders Gary D. Cohn and Clifton S. Robbins.
“Listing on the NYSE is the next chapter in Allwyn’s history and track record of shared success benefiting players, communities, governments and investors,” said Karel Komárek, chairman of the board of Allwyn and Founder of KKCG Investment Group, Allwyn’s majority owner.
“We forecast the business delivering attractive revenue, profit and cash flow growth, creating attractive long-term value for investors. Going public positions Allwyn to expand its shared success to more markets, while enhancing capital access to fund opportunities for accelerated growth. KKCG has known for years that Allwyn is an amazing business, and I am very proud that global investors will have the opportunity to participate in its further growth.”
“It is an opportune time for Allwyn to take this exciting step,” said Robert Chvatal, CEO of Allwyn. “Jurisdictions in Europe and North America should have higher expectations for the innovations their lotteries can deliver. With consumers expecting the option to experience and pay for entertainment online, Allwyn is building stronger, more individualized and more valuable relationships with our customers.
“We look forward to applying our experience in developing market-specific, culturally-attuned lottery entertainment to new customers and geographies as an NYSE-listed company.”
Allwyn’s management team has built a platform whose component businesses (on a 100 percent basis) collected approximately €16 billion in wagers over the 12-month period ended June 30, 2021. A leading multinational lottery operator, Allwyn operates lotteries in Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Cyprus and Italy, and forecasts approximately $810 million (€710 million) in adjusted EBITDA from approximately $1.7 billion (€1.5 billion) in net gaming revenue in 2022.
The merger will provide Allwyn with greater access to capital markets to complement its strong balance sheet and cash flow generation, enabling it to accelerate its successful organic and inorganic growth strategy and expanding its global brand, including in highly attractive United States markets.
Online users of Allwyn businesses have more than doubled in the past two years, enabling the company to establish customer relationships and implement cross-selling initiatives that it expects to create greater value and benefit from low churn rates and customer acquisition costs.
“We have worked with hundreds of management teams and invested in hundreds of companies in our careers, but we founded Cohn Robbins to seek out just one,” said Cohn and Robbins in a statement.
“We believe that Allwyn is the right company, in the right industry, at the right time and with the right leadership team. We are excited by the growth opportunities the company has ahead of it and we look forward to providing our support. We also are very pleased to be bringing this transaction to Cohn Robbins shareholders in an innovative way and at an attractive valuation.”
Current Allwyn equity holders are expected to retain approximately 83 percent ownership in the company, and no new shareholder of the company will own a stake of more than 5 percent immediately following the transaction.
