U.K.-listed wagering operator Entain, formerly known as GVC, has agreed to acquire esports wagering start-up Unikrn for GBP50 million.
The company has also announced the appointment of Justin Dellario as head of esports. He most recently served as VP of Content and esports for Twitch.
Jette Nygaard-Andersen, Entain’s CEO, commented: “One exciting opportunity is the growing esports skill-based wagering market. We are building the first scalable platform to address this market and I am delighted that Justin Dellario is joining us to lead our growth in this new area.”
Entain recently entered into a joint venture with MGM Resorts, providing technology that powers BetMGM.
Entain owns brands such as Ladbrokes, Sportingbet, Coral and Foxy Games. It has been seeking international expansion and recently bought Enlabs in the Baltics and Bet.pt in Portugal. It sought to buy Tabcorp’s wagering and media unit for $3.5 billion, but was rejected by the Australian company.