Industry Consolidation Accelerates as Allwyn and OPAP Move Toward €16B Merger

The merger was first announced back in October of 2025 & has already cleared a key hurdle with the blessing of both company’s boards of directors. Now its all about getting the final regulatory sign off & the whole thing is expected to get wrapped up in the first half of 2026. Those who decided to opt out of the deal will get a total of €456 million as a consolation prize.
As things stand, OPAP will be shifting its HQ to Luxembourg & rebranding itself as Allwyn AG. The merged company will have around 770.8 million shares outstanding, with Allwyn’s parent company KKCG having a commanding 78.4% stake in the combined business.

Part of Allwyn’s broader global expansion

This massive merger is another in a string of bold moves by Allwyn to fan out across the globe and beef up its digital capabilities. The company’s not too long ago sunk serious cash into a majority stake in PrizePicks a US fantasy sports outfit and overhauled the digital infrastructure of the UK National Lottery.

Key facts:

• Deal value: €16 billion
• Shareholder exit rate: 6.7%
• Exit compensation: €456 million
• New company name: Allwyn AG
• Expected closing: H1 2026
• Majority owner: KKCG (78.4%)

Why this matters for the industry

This big deal will create one of the biggest publicly listed lottery and gaming companies out there. A business of this size almost always has a lot more clout — more buckets of cash to pour into technology, marketing and expansion into new markets — which will just ratchet up the competition and hasten the shift towards digital lottery and gaming products on a global scale.