Ladbrokes owner approaches Baltic rival Olympic with $1 billion offer - Bloomberg News

(Reuters) - Ladbrokes owner Entain has made a more than $1 billion approach for Estonian gambling company Olympic Entertainment Group, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Entain made an indicative offer to Olympic in recent weeks and is initially seeking to buy the company's online business and Lithuania and Croatia operations, with an option to option to buy the remaining business in early 2023, the report said.

Entain, whose $22 billion buyout by U.S.-based DraftKings fell through last month, declined to comment on the report. Olympic could not be immediately reached for comment.

The London-listed company's shares were down nearly 3% at 1,894.5 pence by 1348 GMT.

The potential deal would help Entain widen its access to European markets, having purchased Sweden-based sports-betting firm Enlabs AB for about $343 million earlier this year.

Olympic operates roughly 100 casinos in Europe, majority of which are in the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It is owned by London-based Novalpina Capital - the parent of Israeli cyber surveillance firm NSO Group.

Novalpina acquired the Estonia-based casino and betting operator roughly four years ago, in a deal valuing the company at around 288 million euros ($325 million).

($1 = 0.8852 euros)

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka and Muvija M in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)