Shareholders for Bally’s Corporation and Gamesys Wednesday approved a business combination of the companies. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, pending regulatory approval.
When the combination was first announced in April 2021, the Rhode Island-based gaming operator said the acquisition of Gamesys, a global online gaming operator based in the United Kingdom, was worth $2.8 billion.
“By combining with Gamesys, we will meaningfully accelerate our growth strategy to become a premier, global, omni-channel gaming company, which we believe will create significant long-term shareholder value,” said Chairman of Bally’s Corporation’s Board of Directors Soo Kim in a a statement.
In April, Kim said the Gamesys technology platform combined with Bally’s access to the U.S. market would allow the new group “to capitalize on the significant growth opportunities in the U.S. sports betting and online markets.”
Gamesys CEO Lee Fenton said in a statement that the combination will enable his company to integrate its technology with Bally’s U.S. gaming platform to “create a vertically integrated company that is poised to capitalize on the rapidly expanding U.S. online sports betting and igaming market. Given our comprehensive suite of collective assets and our track record of developing online gaming operations in highly competitive markets, we believe we will be able to offer customers a unique and differentiated approach to gaming.”
The news of the combination follows a flurry of recent activity for the Rhode Island gaming operator. Bally’s also announced Wednesday a partnership with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and was relicensed by the state of Missouri to continue its operation of Casino KC in Kansas City. On Tuesday, Bally Bet, the gaming operator’s mobile sportsbook, was launched in Iowa.
