The PA to Acquire Racing and Sports (ASX: RTH) for $1.04 a Share

RAS Technology Holdings, the ASX-listed business known as Racing and Sports, has signed a binding Scheme Implementation Deed with The Press Association Limited, a subsidiary of PA Media Group. Under the scheme, The PA will acquire 100% of RAS for $1.04 cash per share. RAS announced the deal to the ASX on 19 October 2026 as a price-sensitive release.

Based on the 47.89 million RAS shares on issue, the price implies an undiluted equity value of about A$49.8 million and an enterprise value of about A$45.6 million. RAS has no borrowings and held A$4.2 million of cash at 30 June 2026.

Cash per RAS share

A$1.04

Premium to last close of $0.54

93%

Undiluted equity value

~A$49.8m

Racing data, wagering technology and media built since 1999

Racing and Sports was founded in 1999 and supplies premium racing data, content and wagering technology to the global racing and betting industries. Its clients, as listed in the announcement, include Entain (Ladbrokes and Neds), Flutter (Sportsbet, Paddy Power and Betfair), Tabcorp, Betr, Bet365, Singapore Pools, the Australian Turf Club, the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Racing Victoria.

That client list is the asset. RAS sits inside the daily workflow of many of the largest wagering operators in Australia and Asia, supplying the form, results and content their racing products run on.

The PA adds RAS to Podium’s racing and betting data business

The PA’s racing heritage spans more than forty years. Through Podium, it supplies racing and sports data, content and products to bookmakers, broadcasters and the wider industry. The announcement says the deal adds RAS’s racing data, wagering technology and media capabilities to that existing business, giving customers “a wider range of data, deep wagering knowledge and coverage across more of the markets in which they each operate.”

Board and founders back the scheme

The RAS board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote for the scheme, and each director intends to vote their shares in favour, in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to the Independent Expert concluding that the scheme is in shareholders’ best interests.

Co-founders Gary Crispe, an executive director, and Robert Vilkaitis, chief innovation officer, together hold or control about 34.0% of RAS shares. Both have confirmed in writing that they intend to vote in favour on the same terms.

The PA will fund the price from existing cash and committed debt. The deed includes customary no-shop, no-talk and no-due-diligence terms, a matching right for The PA, and a break fee of 1% of the implied equity value, about A$0.5 million, payable by RAS in set circumstances.

1. 19 October 2026Binding Scheme Implementation Deed signed and announced to the ASX.
2. Early December 2026Scheme Booklet and Independent Expert’s Report expected to be sent to shareholders.
3. Late January 2027Court-convened Scheme Meeting expected.
4. February 2027Scheme expected to be implemented.

Advisers

Canterbury Partners is financial adviser and Gadens legal adviser to RAS. Latimer Partners is financial adviser and Mills Oakley Australian legal adviser to The PA.

What it shows about betting data M&A

Data and content are the quiet layer under every sportsbook and racing product, and owners of that layer are being consolidated by groups with global distribution. The PA is paying a 93% premium for a business whose customers are already the biggest names in wagering, with no financing or regulatory approval conditions attached.

For founders of specialist data, odds, content and trading businesses in gambling, the deal is a clear reference point: a founder-led company built over 25 years, sold in cash to a strategic buyer that wants its data and its clients. Acquiry works with buyers looking for exactly these businesses. See the buy-side searches we are running, or start a confidential conversation.