Danske Spil Sells 60% Stake in Swush Fantasy Sports to Ekstra Bladet

Danske Licens Spil, a subsidiary of Danske Spil, has taken a bold step by selling its 60% ownership share in the popular Swush fantasy sports platform to Ekstra Bladet, a prominent Danish tabloid newspaper. The sale, which is subject to approval at the upcoming Danske Spil general meeting, is set to be completed on January 31st, 2024. Both parties have chosen not to disclose the purchase price for this strategic transaction.

Swush.com, the operator of fantasy sports in Denmark, also oversees sports management games provider Holdet.dk. The co-founders of Swush.com, Jesper Carstensen and Ole Christensen, will retain a 40% stake in the business, while Ekstra Bladet takes over Danske Licens Spil's 60% share.

Holdet.dk, which currently boasts over 200,000 users across Denmark, will continue to operate independently as a brand under Ekstra Bladet's ownership. Swush.com's managing director, Ole Christensen, expressed pride in their achievements, stating, "We look forward to working closely with Ekstra Bladet and Bold.dk to make sports more fun for even more sports fans."

Ekstra Bladet's commercial director, Signe Skarequist, welcomed the deal, emphasizing the synergy between Holdet.dk and Ekstra Bladet, calling it a "perfect match." She added, "The purchase of Holdet.dk is a clear indication of our ambition to create strong digital media that delivers appealing and relevant content to a large audience."

Dankse Spil CEO Nikolas Lyhne-Knudsen expressed his pride in Swush's success during the eight and a half years of co-ownership, stating, "We are proud of recent years' progress in Swush and for Holdet.dk." He also expressed optimism about the future, believing that Ekstra Bladet's strategic ambitions would help further grow Holdet.dk.

Swush's success was highlighted in Dankse Spil's Q3 results, with revenue increasing by 10.0% year-on-year to DKK 11.0 million (£1.3 million/€1.5 million/$1.6 million). The overall group revenue also saw growth, rising 2.4% to DKK 3.69 billion, driven by Danske Lotteri Spil and Danske Klasse-lotteri revenue. Meanwhile, revenue from Danske Licens Spil and Elite Gaming experienced slight declines.