BetMakers to acquire horse racing rating systems provider Punting Form for $1.9M

Online wagering products and services supplier BetMakers Technology Group announced Monday it has entered into an agreement to acquire Punting Form, a horse racing intelligence and rating systems provider. Punting Form uses proprietary IP and AI to create sectional times and benchmarks for horse racing, which are used for time-based ratings systems.

On the completion date, BetMakers will pay an initial consideration of AUS $3 million ($1.9 million) for the Punting Form acquisition, paid in cash, with the potential for a further AUS $17 million ($10.7 million) earn-out achievable over the next three years on the delivery of operational, revenue and profitability targets. Punting Form will become part of BetMakers’ Global Betting Services division once acquired.

The earn-out metrics are set “at approximately four times revenue and eight times Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)” for Punting Form as a BetMakers subsidiary. In addition, BetMakers is expected to benefit from revenue and profit synergies over and above the profit contribution from the standalone Punting Form business on which the earn-out is based.

Punting Form is used by professional wagering syndicates, wagering operators, content creators and form analysts and forms “an integral part” of data requirements for professional horse racing participants. The sectional times can be used in conjunction with BetMakers’ technology to deliver enhanced features such as more accurate pricing algorithms, speed maps, runner comments and integrity benchmarking, BetMakers noted.

The ASX-listed firm believes that the acquisition of Punting Form will further strengthen the company’s position “as one of the leading global providers of B2B data and technology services” for horse racing, the business noted in a press release. BetMakers will integrate the Punting Form services and data across all operating divisions, with an immediate focus on Managed Trading Services, “allowing pricing improvements across its ratings engine.”

Additionally, Punting Form will expand the current services to include sectional time ratings for North American and other global jurisdictions (including New Zealand, UK and Ireland), and additional racing formats (greyhounds and harness racing). BetMakers views this asset as “strategically important,” adding world-class technology that the company’s management believes will help drive margin improvement and create new revenue streams.

Among the benefits BetMakers expects from this acquisition are improved back-end tools, more efficient pricing and improved relative trading margins for its platform and Managed Trading Services customers. It will also allow an opportunity to leverage the existing Punting Form relationships powering racing syndicates “to drive more liquidity” in existing and new markets for BetMakers’ racetrack partners.

BetMakers claims that improved pricing and increased confidence in overseas content will enable it to package up existing form, with the Punting Form time factors, vision, pricing and trading “for a complete product offering.” And lastly, the increase in race timing quality is expected to ensure BetMakers’ proprietary ratings engine is powered “with the cleanest and most accurate data,” facilitating wagering operators' shift from tote products to fixed odds.

"Sectional Times are at the forefront of any ratings system and required by any serious ratings engine. The synergies across our business are exceptional with both internal use and our external client base benefiting greatly from this acquisition,” said BetMakers CEO Todd Buckingham. “The team at Punting Form are very experienced in delivering B2B wagering solutions and we are excited to have them onboard at BetMakers."