Hoping to have hit the jackpot, Light & Wonder announced plans to acquire the charitable gaming assets of Grover Gaming for total consideration of $850 million. The all-cash deal will bring the provider of electronic pull-tabs for charitable gaming in the U.S. under Light & Wonder’s gambling umbrella and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2025.
“Grover Gaming is a leading player in charitable gaming, a category that has experienced significant growth in recent years,” according to the deal’s press release.” The target “has an installed base of over 10,000 leased electronic pull-tab units across five U.S. States (ND, OH, VA, KY, NH) operating under a recurring revenue model.”
Gambling is big business. From Las Vegas to Atlantic City, the U.S. is home to many of the largest casinos in the world. National commercial gross gaming revenue reached $66.5 billion in 2023 – approximately 75% of which was derived from casino slots and tables games. The industry took a hit in 2020, as the pandemic led to a 31% drop in revenue, but came roaring back in 2021 and 2022.
Source: Statista
The pandemic helped jumpstart the online gaming market, as individuals turned to their phones when bricks and mortar casinos closed or operated at reduced capacity. The segment is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 12% over 2023 – 2030, with online gaming companies engaging their users via virtual reality technology to immerse users in a variety of gaming worlds. Due to addiction and other concerns, states have sought to heavily regulate this space, much like they do for traditional gambling.
Source: Grand View Research
This deal focuses on the charitable gaming space, which represents the portion of the gambling market where proceeds go to a nonprofit. “Such gaming is considered a form of incentivized giving, a sort of win-win for all parties, where bettors who lose money know it’s going to a cause,” according to GrantStation. “Charitable gaming can encompass not only raffles, but activities such as bingo, roulette, lottery, pull tabs, slot machines, and even, in states like California, Virginia, and others, Las Vegas style poker tournaments.”
According to DealPulse’s M&A database, which harnesses both AI and attorneys to digest the granular deal points of publicly-announced transactions, Light & Wonder is advised by Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP while Grover Gaming and G2 Gaming are advised by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
