Bubble Beauty

About Bubble Beauty

Entain is trying to respond by simplifying itself. It has agreed to sell an initial 20% stake in Entain CEE for €425 million, implying an enterprise value of about €2.1 billion. The company says proceeds from the transaction and any future exit will be used to reduce debt and, subject to leverage objectives, return excess capital to shareholders.

The strategy is less about rapid growth and more about showing that a cash-generating business with falling debt and improving operations is undervalued.

By looking at four major gambling companies – Entain, Flutter, DraftKings and MGM Resorts International – it becomes clear why the sector should not be treated as a single trade.

What is Bubble Beauty?

From July 2027, the company will lose exclusivity over betting and iCasino products, which will become licence-based, while retaining exclusive rights for lottery games, scratchcards, slot machines and physical table games. 

The company has committed to paying market-based compensation for exclusive operations, estimated at around €1 billion for a 10-year licence period, with a significant front-loaded payment scheduled for 2026.

In further preparations for the competitive market, Veikkaus this week joined the market’s trade body, the Finnish Gambling Association, which has long lobbied for market liberalisation.

How to play Bubble Beauty

“Peru has been quite successful in channelling customers into the regulated framework,” Rossi comments. “The risk is that this channelisation can decrease in favour of the black market. We know the black market won’t have any consumption tax.

“There should be, in my opinion, a review of the whole ISC or consumption tax framework and find a kind of alignment or a better way to get an income in terms of taxes, but that should be balanced in order to avoid the disruption of businesses and a migration of customers to the illegal market.”

Atucha warns there is a tipping point where higher taxes can undermine channelisation, citing the UK and Germany as important case studies.