Ever get the feeling the world’s gone into fast forward?
Shoppers’ exodus to online is travelling at 1000 frames a second, accelerating the death of High Streets and shopping malls.
Working from home has gone from being an eccentricity to the norm. Cycle lanes have sprung up like Japanese knotweed to take the strain from socially distanced Tubes and buses.
All trends in play before Covid, but accelerated with unprecedented speed.
For CEOs trying to serve the new needs of the public, it’s never been harder, or more thrilling. Likewise for investors trying to spot the new trends.
Few know this more than the London property billionaires, Ian and Richard Livingstone.
Today, at a time of moribund M&A markets, a thumping great deal they’ve been involved with in Sweden threw a light on a sector that has been quietly thriving as people have been stuck at home across the world — online gaming.
Evolution Gaming, which provides unbranded live online casino games for more than 300 operators, spent more than
$2 billion buying a rival, NetEnt.
It paid a stonking 43% premium to last night’s share price.
What does this tell you? That the people who see inside the businesses of all the major casino operators know they’re booming like never before. Live online casino gaming grew 38% a year between 2015 and 2019. Expect that to more than double this year.
Evolution’s shares have doubled this year already. That’s rather good news for the Livingstones, who own 17% of this £8 billion company, where Ian has been a director since 2015.
Doubtless, Covid has had an impact on the brothers’ property interests at London + Regional, but their diversification is a testament to their investment nous. Having said that, I bet even they didn’t realise quite how much, and how quickly, their bet on gaming would pay off.
