Golden Palace close to acquiring Press Shops and Relay stores

Golden Palace close to acquiring Press Shops and Relay stores

To overview
Press
26/01/2022

Gaming company Golden Palace is close to finalizing the acquisition of Ubiway Retail, a Bpost subsidiary that operates the Press Shop, Relay, Hubiz, and Ubi retail chains. The deal’s financial terms have not been disclosed.

Bpost put Ubiway Retail up for sale earlier this year. Although negotiations with an investment fund collapsed at the end of 2022, talks with Golden Palace are now reportedly in the final stages, according to sources familiar with the matter.

At first glance, a gaming company acquiring a network of newspaper shops might seem unusual. However, Golden Palace likely views the stores as an additional channel to distribute its gaming products. In recent years, the number of newspaper shops offering betting services has increased sharply, partly because enforcement of player exclusion rules is less stringent in such locations compared to official betting offices. Many Ubiway stores already sell National Lottery products.

Key facts:

  • Golden Palace is nearing the acquisition of Bpost’s Ubiway Retail division.
  • Ubiway Retail operates around 170 outlets under the Press Shop, Relay, Hubiz, and Ubi brands.
  • The shops are independently operated and located in strategic spots such as airports, metro and train stations, shopping streets, malls, international institutions, and hospitals.
  • Bpost, majority-owned by the Belgian government (51.04%), has struggled with Ubiway since its acquisition in 2016.

 

Controversial optics

The sale is likely to raise eyebrows, as it involves a government-controlled company selling assets to a gaming group—while that same government enforces strict regulations on the gambling industry and owns the National Lottery.

 

About Golden Palace

Golden Palace, known in the sports world as a sponsor of football club Antwerp FC, offers casino games and sports betting via a network of 40 gaming halls and its own online platform. The group also operates the Boulogne-sur-Mer casino on the French Opal Coast. Golden Palace is privately owned by the Menegalli family, with siblings Massimo and Daniela Menegalli at the helm.

Through this acquisition, Golden Palace would add around 170 retail points to its portfolio. It remains unclear whether all locations will be retained post-acquisition.

 

Ubiway’s struggles

Since Bpost’s acquisition in 2016, Ubiway Retail has consistently underperformed, carrying negative equity for several years. In the pandemic year 2020, revenue fell by nearly 25% to €142 million, and net losses deepened to €8.5 million. In its 2020 annual report, Bpost cited Ubiway Retail as a major factor behind a surge in impairments and write-offs, which rose from €61 million to €106 million.

 

Busy times in Belgian gaming

The Belgian gaming sector has seen a flurry of activity in recent months. In July, investment fund Waterland sold Napoleon Games to Romanian rival Superbet, and in late 2022, private equity giant CVC joined the founding families at Gaming One, the gaming division behind brands like Circus and 777.

Bpost declined to comment on the pending deal, stating only: “We have no news to announce.”

 

Source: De Tijd, Michaël Sephiha, 26/01/2022, This is an automatically generated translation of the original article, Link to original article.