ZEAL Network SE has agreed to acquire the remaining 96.5% of SevenCanyon Limited, taking full control of the UK prize draw operator and giving the German online lottery company an immediate foothold in the British digital prize draw market. ZEAL already held a 3.5% stake in SevenCanyon before the deal.
The purchase price for the outstanding shares is around £33.8m in cash, subject to post-completion adjustments that include an adjustment for vehicle inventory in the single-digit millions of pounds. On top of that, ZEAL will pay an earn-out of up to £4.8m over the six months following completion. The company is financing the deal through a €40m seven-year term loan arranged by Deutsche Bank.
SevenCanyon runs the UK brands 7days Performance, Redline Competitions and UK Carp Competitions. All three operate digital prize draws with non-cash prizes such as houses, cars and other consumer goods rather than cash payouts. For the financial year ending March 2026, SevenCanyon reported EBITDA of more than £10m.
A new vertical for a German lottery specialist
ZEAL built its business on online lottery in Germany, where it brokers and operates state-licensed lottery products. The SevenCanyon deal moves it into a different product and a different jurisdiction at the same time. Prize draws sit adjacent to gambling but run on a distinct model: players buy entries for a chance to win physical prizes, and the format is regulated separately from casino and betting products in the UK.
The company framed the acquisition as part of a plan to widen its business beyond German lottery through new products and new markets.
“SevenCanyon is one of the most successful prize draw operators in the UK. We have known them for years. With the acquisition, we hit the ground running in a highly attractive and growing market. We also accelerate the implementation of our strategy to selectively diversify our business model through new products and new markets,” said Dr. Stefan Tweraser, CEO of ZEAL Network SE.
Debt-financed deal, guidance held
ZEAL is funding most of the purchase through the new Deutsche Bank loan rather than existing cash, a structure the company said protects its balance sheet flexibility.
“SevenCanyon is a highly profitable company with a proven business model. The purchase price will mainly be financed through a new loan agreement. This preserves our financial flexibility to continue our growth-oriented and shareholder-friendly capital allocation in the future,” said Andrea Behrendt, CFO of ZEAL Network SE.
The company kept its 2026 EBITDA guidance of €70m to €75m, which assumes a normal jackpot environment in Germany. That range includes anticipated one-off transaction costs in the mid-single-digit millions of euros. ZEAL said it expects the acquisition to add to revenue and EBITDA once SevenCanyon is consolidated, and will revisit its revenue guidance after the IFRS treatment of SevenCanyon’s revenue streams is finalised.
For the first full financial year after completion, ZEAL expects SevenCanyon to contribute positively to EBITDA in the high single-digit millions of euros.
Entering a crowded UK market
The UK prize draw sector has grown quickly as operators market high-value physical prizes to consumers who buy low-cost entries, often through free-entry postal routes that keep the products outside the scope of the Gambling Act. That structure has drawn scrutiny from regulators and consumer groups over how closely some prize draws resemble gambling, a question that could shape how the market develops as larger, licensed operators move in.
For ZEAL, the deal is a bet that a profitable UK operator can be plugged into a listed European lottery group without the regulatory exposure of a full gambling licence. The UK remains one of the most closely watched gambling markets in Europe, and recent months have seen continued consolidation across it. The company will consolidate SevenCanyon after completion and update its guidance once the accounting treatment is settled, which will give the first clear read on how much the UK business adds to the group.
Source: ZEAL Network
