The owner of Paddy Power and Betfair has agreed to buy UK bingo group Tombola for £402 million. Flutter Entertainment said it had “long admired” the online bingo firm as it unveiled the all-cash deal.
Tombola’s founder Phil Cronin, who set up the firm 16 years ago, will leave the business after the acquisition, with he and his family expected to net a fortune.
Based across sites in Sunderland and Gibraltar Tombola has more than 700 employees and around 400,000 average monthly users. It made underlying earnings of £38.5 million in the year to April 30 on revenues of £164 million.
The deal is set to complete in the first quarter of next year.
