Catena Media acquires the award-winning affiliate AskGamblers.com for EUR 15 million

On 3 April 2016, Catena Media acquired the acknowledged and highly regarded
affiliate website AskGamblers.com for EUR 15 million and thereby consolidates
its position as Europe’s fastest growing company in lead generation. The
transaction is the largest in Catena Media’s history and its third strategic
acquisition thus far this year.
On 3 April 2016, Catena Media plc’s fully owned subsidiary acquired the
affiliate website AskGamblers.com (“AskGamblers”). AskGamblers operates one of
the markets most highly visited web portals for player reviews and rankings of
online casinos. The company also provides players with the unique opportunity of
trying online casino-related disputes via the portal and, to date, this has
resulted in more than EUR 5 million being repaid to players. Players across
Europe utilise AskGamblers with the UK being the company’s largest market. At
the prestigious iGB Affiliate Awards, AskGamblers has won the Best Casino
Affiliate for three consecutive years, most recently in 2015. The transaction
includes all affiliate accounts, domains, mobile apps and social media accounts.
AskGamblers’ sales in the first quarter of 2016 amounted to approximately EUR
810,000 with a profit margin surpassing 80%. The revenue stems from organic
traffic under revenue sharing agreements and is expected to generate at least
25,000 new depositing clients each year. Revenue will accrue to Catena Media
from and including 1 April 2016.
AskGamblers’ development centre is based in Serbia and comprises a team of 30
employees, all of whom will be offered continued employment by Catena Media.
This will give the company access to a talent pool of skilled employees in
technical development and programming. Accordingly, Catena Media now has
approximately 130 employees and has offices in three countries.
 “We are incredibly proud of acquiring AskGamblers which is one of the best
brands in the affiliate market and whose operations are a perfect fit for Catena
Media. AskGamblers is an extremely important site for casino operators and,
through its stringent requirements for certified casinos, contributes to
creating a better iGaming industry. The transaction is the largest in Catena
Media’s history and in line with our strategy of growth through acquisitions in
a fragmented market. In parallel, we are strengthening our team with a number of
highly skilled individuals and this transaction provides us with the opportunity
to build the office in Serbia into an extremely cost-efficient development
centre for Catena Media,” says Robert Andersson, CEO of Catena Media.

The purchase price amounts to EUR 15 million, which will be paid in three
tranches: EUR 3 million will be paid on completion of the transaction; EUR 8.25
million will be paid when all assets have been transferred to Catena Media and
EUR 3.75 million will be paid six months after the acquisition has been
completed.
“Catena Media has grown into one of the most interesting actors in our industry
and it feels particularly exciting that AskGamblers will now enter the next
phase together with them,” says Igor Salindrija, founder and previous owner of
AskGamblers.com.


About Catena Media
Catena Media was founded in 2012 and is engaged in performance marketing and
lead generation predominantly within the iGaming industry. The company thereby
attracts substantial numbers of online players through various products and
services, and directs them to a number of B2B customers, mainly consisting of
iGaming operators. Catena Media focuses primarily on customers who operate
online casinos on their own websites. Customers typically use a network of
marketing partners, known as affiliates, to promote their products and services
and, thus attract more online players to their websites. iGaming operators
remunerate Catena Media for each online player that it generates for the
operator through such websites as www.johnslots.com/sv/ and www.rightcasino.com.
Catena Media’s core markets are Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the
United Kingdom. The company has approximately 100 employees. The Group’s
headquarter is located in Sliema, Malta.

For further information, please contact:
Robert Andersson, CEO +356 770 329 28
www.catenamedia.com

This information was submitted for publication at 8.00 a.m. CET on 4 April 2016.
The company’s Certified Advisor is Avanza.