Further acquisitions on the cards, says Cherry CEO
Fredrik Burvall confirms firm is looking at UK and Netherlands after acquisitive entry into Germany
Swedish operator Cherry is prepared to buy its way into the UK and Dutch market, the operator’s CEO Fredrik Burvall told eGaming Review after last week’s encouraging H1 results.
The firm reported a 55% increase in online revenues for the first six months of the year, with growth expected to accelerate further following the 4.6m acquisition of Germany-facing casino operator Almor.
Burvall said Cherry will continue to grow ahead of the market while the firm’s online business should to return to profit in Q3 after acquisition costs and marketing spend led to an EBITDA loss for the first six months of the year.
And speaking to eGR, Burvall said the firm is open to further acquisitions, with the UK and Netherlands two markets of particular interest.
“The strategy is to grow through organic and strategic acquisitions,” Burvall said. “There are plenty of opportunities out there so I wouldn’t rule out making further acquisitions.
“We are following the UK and the Netherlands closely. It will be driven by finding the right people who know the local market,” he added.
Burvall said that while the firm is looking at opportunities in regulated markets it would retain a mix of regulated and grey market revenues, adding that grey markets generally allow for faster growth.
The quarter also saw the launch of Cherry’s SBTech-provided sportsbook, although Burvall cautioned against expecting too much too soon.
“We have not been marketing the sportsbook heavily so far. It is a complement to our casino and lottery offerings, and means customers will not have to go elsewhere if they want to bet on something like the Champions League,” he said.
“We are not competing on the best odds but offering the product makes sense. It maintains loyalty in the customer base,” he added.