€2.7bn Bally’s-Intralot deal creates Athens stock exchange gaming giant
Summary
Bally’s Corporation and Intralot have closed a €2.7bn transaction that merges Bally’s International Interactive with Intralot’s global lottery and gaming operations. The deal delivers €1.53bn in cash plus €1.136bn in newly issued Intralot shares, giving Bally’s a 58% majority stake in the combined, listed company on the Athens Stock Exchange. Management says the merged group will generate roughly €1.1bn in annual revenue with EBITDA margins above 39% and will combine Bally’s Vitruvian data platform with Intralot’s lottery infrastructure to drive scale and cross-market synergies.
Key Points
- The transaction totals €2.7bn: €1.53bn cash and €1.136bn in shares, creating a majority stake for Bally’s (58%).
- Combined company expected to produce ~€1.1bn in annual revenue and EBITDA margins above 39%.
- Intralot arranged a large financing package: €900m senior secured notes, a £400m (€460m) term loan, a €200m amortising term loan and a €160m revolver; a €429m share offering was heavily oversubscribed.
- Bally’s will use at least $1bn of proceeds to pay down secured debt, and plans additional liquidity actions including a sale-and-leaseback and an expanded revolving facility.
- Approximately $200m earmarked for Bally’s Chicago casino construction as part of a $940m commitment with Gaming and Leisure Properties.
- Operational plan centres on integrating Bally’s digital tech (Vitruvian) with Intralot’s lottery reach across B2G, B2B and B2C channels to unlock cross-selling and data-driven product innovation.
- The new listing on the Athens Stock Exchange is framed as a major vote of confidence in Greek capital markets and a significant cross-border gaming transaction for 2025.
Content summary
The article reports the completion of a large-scale merger between a US casino operator and a Greek lottery and gaming firm, summarising the financial structure, strategic rationale and expected operational benefits. It outlines the mix of cash and shares used to effect the transaction and details Intralot’s debt and equity financing arrangements that supported the deal. Bally’s intends to strengthen its balance sheet, fund development projects and retain its International Interactive unit’s management and technology stack while tapping Intralot’s global lottery footprint. Regulatory, shareholder and lender conditions have been met, and market reception to the share offering was strong.
Context and relevance
This deal reshapes the public gaming landscape in Greece and creates one of the largest gaming names on the Athens Stock Exchange. For investors, operators and suppliers in iGaming and lotteries, it signals consolidation momentum, a push for digital-lottery convergence and renewed international capital interest in Greek-listed assets. The transaction also highlights how strategic asset combinations and financing packages are being used to de-lever balance sheets while preserving growth capital for large-scale projects like Bally’s Chicago casino.
Why should I read this?
Quick and blunt: if you follow gaming M&A, capital markets or company strategy in iGaming/lotteries, this is big. It shows where the money is moving, how companies are using cash-plus-shares deals to scale, and what that means for competition and deal appetite in Europe and the US. Also, if you’re tracking Greek market comebacks, this is a clear sign investors are back in.
Author style
Punchy: this story matters. It’s a landmark cross-border transaction that changes market dynamics and offers concrete financial and operational implications worth digging into if you work in investment, corporate strategy or the gaming sector.
Source
Source: https://next.io/news/investment/ballys-intralot-deal-athens-stock-exchange-giant/
