DoubleDown Interactive has suggested it still has appetite for M&A after acquiring Europe-facing operator SuprNation in October 2023 for about $35m.
The move for SuprNation marked DoubleDown’s first expansion into real-money gaming as a mobile game developer and social casino.
Releasing its Q2 trading update on 12 August, DoubleDown noted that SuprNation had delivered revenue of $7.9m in the three months to 30 June, taking group revenue up 17% year on year (YoY) to $88.2m.
Operating expenses during the reporting period did increase 9% YoY to $52m as bosses said the rise was primarily due to greater spend on SuprNation.
Group adjusted EBITDA rose 34%, reaching $37m, as higher expenses for the SuprNation division offset lower expenses across the social casino business.
SuprNation operates in Sweden, Germany and the UK with its VoodooDreams, NYSpins and Duelz brands.
When pressed during an analyst call on what had driven gains for DoubleDown’s real-money gaming business, CFO Joseph Sigrist pointed to a concentrated marketing spend effort.
He said: “We have seen the business ramp up since we bought them. We believe our investment in additional marketing has really helped. When we started operating the business, we realised that there was definitely an opportunity to invest more in marketing and still get a very positive ROI with that incremental spend.
“In Sweden and the UK, which are the main two markets, we’re excited to be spending money to acquire new players.
“As we learn more about the igaming business and work with our partners at SuprNation, I think you can expect us to continue to lean into that marketing spend.”
On the M&A front, Sigrist added that DoubleDown will continue to diversify its portfolio, as opposed to homing in on the igaming opportunity.
He added: “When we announced that we were buying SuprNation, we said that we were excited about igaming, but [we] certainly aren’t turning ourselves into solely an igaming company. We’re willing to look at areas that meet our criteria. We haven’t really crossed anything off the list.”
Keuk Kim, DoubleDown CEO, said SuprNation’s performance in Q2 was “well above the estimated quarterly run rate” for the company prior to the acquisition.
He added: “We continue to fine-tune our go-to-market strategies for growing SuprNation’s topline while remaining focused on ensuring our near-term marketing and player engagement strategies will result in sustainable mid- and long-term profitable revenue and cash flow contributions.”
The post DoubleDown open to more M&A following SuprNation acquisition first appeared on EGR Intel.
