Tipico CEO Axel Hefer has described the operator’s impending merger with Betclic as “perfect” for the Germany- and Austria-facing operator. 

Betclic parent company Banijay Group announced the acquisition of Tipico earlier this week in a deal worth up to €3bn (£2.6bn) from private equity and investment firm CVC.

The agreement will see Banijay Group hold a majority 65% stake in the combined business, with the transaction valuing Betclic at €4.8bn and Tipico at €4.6bn. 

Management said that the combined entity will be the fourth largest sports betting and igaming operator in Europe, behind only Flutter, Entain and Lottomatica. The presentation slides claiming this status did exclude bet365, however.

From 1 January 2026, Betclic CEO Nicolas Béraud will become chair of the board of Banijay Gaming, a division of Banijay Group.

He will be replaced in his role by Julien Brun, the current COO of Betclic. Furthermore Joachim Baca, chair and former CEO of Tipico, will become vice-chair of Banijay Gaming. Meanwhile, Hefer will remain in his current role as Tipico CEO. 

Speaking to EGR after the acquisition announcement, Hefer said the deal was the culmination of Tipico’s wider growth plans which had been in place since 2023. 

In that period, the operator pulled out the US B2C sports betting race, selling its tech stack to MGM Resorts International in the process. Tipico also snapped up Admiral to expand its presence in Germany and Austria earlier this year.

Hefer stepped up to CEO last summer, with the former Trivago boss having served as COO since November 2023.

Firepower

He said:“When I joined Tipico in 2023 it was clear that we needed to expand again. We left the US because that was subscale and we ventured then into Austria with Admiral.  

“We wanted to use our firepower and our tech team to expand quickly. The deal with Betclic was the perfect combination of both those things.” 

Hefer added that the combination of the two companies presents a unique opportunity for both brands. 

“The combination with Betclic is perfect for Tipico,” he continued. “They also have market-leading positions as we do; they’re number one in France, number one in Portugal, number two in Poland, while we’re number one in Austria and Germany.  

“It is unique in Europe to have that many podium positions. The scale and the setup of the new group gives us a lot of opportunities to really expand even more aggressively than we have in the past.” 

Hefer had no reservations about the merger, with early due diligence indicating that the two companies would work well together, the CEO said.

He added: “It was clear before we did the heavy lifting that there was a good cultural fit. I think Nicolas and Julien are excellent operators, and they’ve built great technology. We saw a very good personal fit, but also a strategic fit with Betclic.” 

Betclic will also assume control of the Admiral Austria brand, which Tipico completed its acquisition of in September.  

The Banijay Group subsidiary will also divest its 53.9% stake in German operator bet-at-home AG as part of the transaction.

The post Exclusive: Tipico CEO says Betclic merger presents “unique” opportunity for both brands  first appeared on EGR Intel.