Australian online sportsbook operator PointsBet Holdings Limited has announced the signing of a deal worth some $65.56 million that is to see the Sports International Group (SIG) Incorporated subordinate of American proprietary financial trading firm Susquehanna International Group LLC become its largest shareholder.

The Melbourne-headquartered online sportsbetting provider used an official Monday press release (pdf) to detail that the fresh arrangement could be concluded from as soon as the weekend and is to involve its latest investor being issued with 38.75 million new common shares at an individual price of approximately $1.69. The firm also explained that this value represents a 15% premium on the average rate for the five days to June 17 and is to immediately give SIG Incorporated a 12.8% shareholding.

Static standing:

Brett Paton serves as the Chairman for Sydney-listed PointsBet Holdings Limited and he revealed that the completion of the strategic investment will not result in any changes to his firm’s board of directors or senior leadership team. The experienced professional moreover stated that the proceeds from the coming deal are to be used to ‘accelerate the technology roadmap’ and further improve the company’s scalable platform that already allows punters in Australia, Ireland, Canada and the United States to enjoy a wide range of sportsbetting, advance deposit wagering and iGaming entertainment.

Read a statement from Paton…

“We are delighted to pair up with a visionary investor that has committed ongoing support and is eminently qualified in analytical trading in financial markets and now in sports. The cultural alignment between both organizations is strong and this investment will assist with expanding and growing our North American operations as we seek to lead in in-play betting and enhancing the overall customer experience.”

Ancillary accord:

As part of this arrangement and PointsBet Holdings Limited proclaimed that its PointsBet Europe Holdings Limited subsidiary is to furthermore allow the Nellie Analytics Limited arm of SIG Incorporated to supply it with ‘sports analytics and quantitative modelling services’. The firm additionally noted that this portion of the alliance will run for three years beginning with a gratis nine-month exploratory period with any subsequent compensation to be provided via long-dated options or cash.

Future focus:

For his part and the Head of Strategic Planning for SIG Incorporated, David Pollard, used the press release to describe Dublin-headquartered Nellie Analytics Limited as a 30-strong team of technologists that ‘has built cutting-edge quantitative models and technology’ that permits partners ‘to trade and make markets for professional sports using trading acumen, advanced statistical forecasting models and quantitative research’. The executive also pronounced that PointsBet Europe Holdings Limited will be able to utilize the coming partner’s capabilities to enhance its own operational capabilities and accelerate its ‘technology roadmap’ as it looks towards rolling out ‘highly sophisticated risk management and trading algorithms’ with a particular focus on in-play in North American markets.

A statement from Pollard read…

“Since its inception, Nellie Analytics Limited has sought to leverage our experience in quantitative modelling in financial markets and apply those lessons to creating a world-class sports analytics business particularly focused on in-play. We are thrilled to explore the possibility of applying that hard-earned knowledge to a like-minded partner’s platform and, with the North American sportsbetting market still being in the very early innings of its development, we believe that we are well-positioned to capitalize on the market’s inevitable growth with the potential assistance of Nellie Analytics Limited.”