ZEAL Acquires SevenCanyon, Taking Germany’s Online Lottery Leader Into UK Prize Draws

ZEAL Network, the market leader for online lotteries in Germany, now owns 100% of SevenCanyon Limited, a UK operator of digital prize draws. ZEAL announced the purchase on 9 July 2026 and, in its nine-month results on 4 November, confirmed that SevenCanyon was consolidated for the first time in the third quarter.

The price for the remaining 96.5% is a cash payment of about £33.8m, with an earn-out of up to £4.8m paid over six months after completion. ZEAL held the other 3.5% already. For ZEAL, the deal is its entry into the UK market: SevenCanyon gives the group what its release calls “immediate access to Europe’s largest market for digital prize draw offerings.”

Cash price for 96.5%

£33.8m

SevenCanyon EBITDA, FY to March 2026

£10m+

Revenue added in Q3 2026

€10.5m

What SevenCanyon runs

SevenCanyon operates several UK prize draw platforms, among them 7days Performance, Redline Competitions and UK Carp Competitions. Customers enter digital draws for high-value non-cash prizes such as cars, houses and lifestyle products. ZEAL describes the company as having “established product lines, strong customer acquisition capabilities and a profitable business model.”

The profit figure backs that up. In SevenCanyon’s most recent financial year, April 2025 to March 2026, it generated EBITDA of more than £10m. The cash price of about £33.8m for 96.5% of the company is set against that annual EBITDA.

Why a German lottery group wants UK prize draws

ZEAL’s brands LOTTO24 and Tipp24 broker state-licensed lotteries in Germany, and it has been building its own product categories: the charity lotteries freiheit+, Dream House Raffle and Dream Car Raffle, plus virtual slot games. SevenCanyon fits that direction. Prize draws for cars and houses sit close to the charity raffles ZEAL already runs, and they come with a UK customer base and a profitable operating record.

Financing: a seven-year loan, not a share issue

The purchase is mainly funded by a new €40m term loan with a seven-year term, arranged by Deutsche Bank. ZEAL’s CFO framed it as protecting room for the group’s capital allocation plans.

First results: revenue guidance raised by €20m

On 4 November ZEAL reported group revenue for the first nine months of 2026 of €198.8m, up 22% on €162.6m a year earlier, with SevenCanyon’s first-time consolidation adding €10.5m. Group EBITDA rose 9% to €58.7m despite mid-single-digit millions of euros of one-off acquisition costs.

SevenCanyon sits in ZEAL’s Others segment, whose revenue rose 241% to €15.8m (2025: €4.6m). Of the segment’s €2.6m EBITDA, SevenCanyon contributed €1.4m. With the revenue presentation under IFRS finalised, ZEAL lifted its 2026 group revenue guidance from €250–260m to €270–280m and held its EBITDA guidance at €70–75m.

1. 9 July 2026ZEAL signs the share purchase agreement for the remaining 96.5% of SevenCanyon and publishes the deal terms and a €40m Deutsche Bank term loan.
2. 5 August 2026Half-year results confirm the EBITDA guidance of €70–75m and say revenue guidance will be adjusted once the IFRS treatment of SevenCanyon is final.
3. Q3 2026SevenCanyon is consolidated into the ZEAL Group for the first time.
4. 4 November 2026Nine-month results: €10.5m of SevenCanyon revenue, group revenue up 22%, revenue guidance raised to €270–280m.

What it shows about lottery M&A in 2026

A regulated lottery broker buying a profitable consumer operator in a new country, funded by debt and with part of the price tied to future performance, is a clear template. The buyer gets a business that already earns, a proven customer acquisition engine and a second market. The sellers get cash today and a payout linked to the next six months of trading.

For owners of prize draw, lottery and competition businesses, ZEAL’s results show the buyer side of the equation: SevenCanyon contributed revenue and EBITDA in its first quarter on the books. Structuring the earn-out well matters, so Acquiry’s earn-out modelling tool and deal structure comparison are good places to test what a deal like this means for you. If you run a gambling business and want to know who is buying, talk to us.