Light & Wonder finalized the $1.05 billion acquisition of Grover Gaming’s charitable gaming assets. The deal includes a $850 million upfront payment and a potential $200 million earn-out over four years.
The global gaming and online casino supplier financed the deal through an $800 million loan. The expansion into charitable gaming is expected to contribute over $100 million towards the company’s adjusted EBITDA target of $1.4 billion for this year.
The valuation for the initial payment was calculated at roughly 7.7x Grover Gaming’s adjusted EBITDA of $111 million in 2024. The company generated £135 million in revenue last year.
As part of the acquisition, approximately 120 Grover Gaming employees, primarily based in Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, New Hampshire, and North Dakota, will join Light & Wonder’s workforce. Additionally, Light & Wonder acquired over 10,000 gaming machines that can be leased to charities running Bingo, casino, or lottery events.
Acquisition enhances L&W position
Commenting on the deal, Matt Wilson, President and CEO of Light & Wonder, stated: “Grover Gaming has established itself as a leader in the fast-growing charitable gaming space. Bringing their assets and expertise into our ecosystem aligns perfectly with our strategy to expand into complementary regulated markets.”
“This addition enhances our position as the leading global cross-platform games company and opens new opportunities to deliver our world-class content to even more players. We’re excited to welcome the Grover team to Light & Wonder.”
Wilson previously commented that the company would be willing to explore expansion into sweepstakes casinos if they were to become regulated as well. However, given their current status he stated the company would not be entering the market at this time.
The acquisition comes as Light & Wonder continues its strong financial performance. The company reported a 2% revenue increase to $774m in Q1 2025 – its 16th consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth.
Grover Gaming CEO excited by new chapter
CEO of Grover Gaming Brian Brown added: “Joining Light & Wonder marks an exciting new chapter for the charitable gaming business. We’re proud of what we’ve built in the charitable gaming space, and we see tremendous opportunity to grow even further as part of Light & Wonder.
“Our teams share a passion for innovation and a commitment to serving customers and communities, and we’re excited to take that to the next level together.”
Charitable gaming is subject to state regulations and is usually overseen by state gaming commissions or US lottery boards.
According to the North American Gaming Almanac, charitable gaming accounted for 1.84% of total North American gaming revenue, with a slight decline of 2.40% from the previous year.
Adam is an experienced writer with years of experience in the gambling industry. He has worked as a content writer and editor for five years on sites such as Oddschecker, CoinTelegraph and Gambling Industry News, bringing excellent knowledge of the world of sports betting and online gambling. Adam focuses on emerging stories in the ever changing landscape of betting in the US. Read the latest on prediction markets, changing legislation, and sweepstakes.
