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About Rise Of Orpheus
Both LiveScore and Tombola, who were a part of the original 10 operators to receive a licence, exited the market in 2024.
Compared to the 2021 licensing round, the KSA adopted a more granular and stringent approach to its licence renewal process. This was expected following new policy rules set out by the regulator in September 2025.
One such rule was for licensees that had faced compliance enforcement during the five years operating in the Netherlands.
How to play Rise Of Orpheus
Entain’s share price tumble follows a broader trend for gaming stocks in recent years. Added to that is a declining interest in the LSEG, as listed companies continue to exit at pace, including Flutter, which removed its secondary listing from LSEG in August.
The gaming giant left for greener pastures in the US, expecting to benefit from higher valuations in the most liquid equity market. But analysts have noted a similar downward trend in Flutter’s share price over time.
Down around 60% in a year, the risk is it becomes just another mid-tier consumer stock on a bigger exchange. “Deeper water doesn’t help if the current is moving somewhere else,” Corfai’s Ben Robinson recently said of Flutter’s stock price.
About Rise Of Orpheus
“On the numbers GiG has disclosed it looks cheap,” he says. “€16.4 million for 80% implies an EV of €20.5 million against roughly $50 million of run-rate NGR, 30% year-on-year growth and positive cash generation. €6m of cash on day one for a business generating $50 million of NGR tells you who needed the deal.”
Although Bally’s takeover of Evoke may have prompted a slightly discounted price and a quick decision for GiG to buy 888Africa, the continent has been part of GiG’s plans for a while Richards insists. “We received the information memorandum in Q2 2026,” Richards adds. “Africa has long been a market that our CEO Richard Carter has admired and his insight enabled us to move quickly to be able to announce the principal commercial terms at our results at the end of August.”
Both Richards and Ahlberg state this acquisition doesn’t reflect a turnaround story for 888Africa, with a management team led by industry veteran Christopher Coyne and a footprint in some of the continent’s fastest-growing markets.
