The world's largest online betting company Flutter Entertainment said it will buy a 56% stake in NSX Group, the operator of Brazilian gaming group Betnacional, for about $350m as it seeks to expand in the soon-to-be regulated market.
Flutter, owner of Paddy Power and FanDuel, said it would merge Betnacional with its existing Betfair Brazil brand and invest heavily to drive market share growth, similar to its strategy in the US where it is now the biggest operator.
Sports bets were legalised in soccer-mad Brazil in 2018 but will only be full regulated in early 2025. Dozens of betting brands, including Betfair, bet365 and Betano, have been aggressively expanding in the country in recent years.
NSX is the fourth biggest player, with a 12% share of the sports betting market. It is expected to generate revenue of around $256m in 2024 - more than three times that of Betfair Brazil - and a core profit of around $34m in 2024, Flutter said.
Flutter, which will be able to increase its shareholding after five and 10 years of completing the deal, said it expected the new Flutter Brazil unit to make a loss of around $90-100m in 2025 due to its investment drive.
The Irish betting group said last month that it also in talks to buy UK gambling technology firm Playtech's Italian unit Snaitech.years.
Peter Jackson, Flutter's CEO, said he was excited to announce the addition of NSX to the Flutter portfolio.
"We believe that combining the extensive local expertise of the NSX team, our existing Betfair business and the power of the Flutter Edge, will create a compelling opportunity to capitalise on the growth opportunity in Brazil which presents an exciting runway of future growth," the CEO added.
Completion of the deal is subject to customary regulatory clearances and is expected to close by the second quarter of 2025, Flutter said.
Flutter operates in more than 20 countries globally, including the booming US market where it operates the FanDuel brand.
