Flutter Buys Italian Gambling Operator Sisal, Strengthening PokerStars' Position in Italy Flutter Buys Italian Gambling Operator Sisal, Strengthening PokerStars' Position in Italy
Key Takeaways
  • Sisal, founded in 1946 and headquartered in Milan, is Italy’s leading online gaming operator.
  • Bringing Sisal together with Flutter’s existing online Italian presence will result in a combined online gambling market share of 20% in Italy.
  • “For some time, we have wanted to pursue this market opportunity via an omnichannel strategy.”
  • The purchase also gives Flutter a key new customer acquisition channel, thanks to Sisal’s retail footprint, and access to regulated European lotteries. It is also one of four contenders to take over the UK national lottery.

International online gambling giant Flutter Entertainment plc closed out 2021 by announcing its acquisition of leading Italian online gambling brand Sisal for €1.913 billion (£1.62 billion) from CVC Capital Partners.

Flutter is the parent company of PokerStars, Skybet, Paddy Power, FanDuel, and many other leading iGaming brands. Sisal will presumably slot into the Flutter International division, led by the PokerStars brand and supported by Betfair International and recent acquisitions Adjarabet and Junglee Games.

Sisal, founded in 1946 and headquartered in Milan, is Italy’s leading online gaming operator — offering online casino games, bingo, lottery, poker, and sports betting to consumers across Italy — Flutter said in a press release on December 23, 2021.

Bringing Sisal together with Flutter’s already-established Italian presence will result in a combined online share of 20% in Italy, the company claimed, securing a “gold medal position” in Europe’s second-largest regulated gambling market.