ZEAL’s SevenCanyon acquisition tests whether German lottery expertise can win over British prize draw players
ZEAL already owned a small 3.5% stake in SevenCanyon before the announcement. The price for the rest comes to about £33.8 million. On top of that, ZEAL may pay up to £4.8 million more within six months of closing, depending on performance. The purchase will be funded through a new bank loan.
What SevenCanyon actually does
SevenCanyon runs prize draw websites in the UK. Its main platforms are 7days Performance, Redline Competitions and UK Carp Competitions. People pay to enter a draw and can win physical prizes like cars, houses or high-end goods. It is a different kind of product from a lottery. There are no cash jackpots, and the prizes are specific items rather than a random payout.
The business is in good shape. In the year to March 2026, SevenCanyon posted an EBITDA of over £10 million. The company brings in customers through its own channels and has been profitable for several years.
What ZEAL gets out of it
ZEAL runs Germany’s biggest online lottery operation, with the brands Lotto24.de and Tipp24.com. Before this deal, the company had no business in the UK. SevenCanyon gives ZEAL a ready-made operation with customers already on board, which is faster than building something new from scratch.
CEO Stefan Tweraser said the deal moves the company toward new products and new countries. CFO Andrea Behrendt said the loan structure keeps the group’s finances flexible. ZEAL kept its 2026 EBITDA target at €70 to €75 million, with one-off deal costs already included in that number. In the first full year after the deal closes, SevenCanyon is expected to add a positive contribution to group EBITDA in the high single-digit millions of pounds.
What the deal says about the market
Prize draws in the UK fall under different rules than lotteries and sports betting. That lighter touch from regulators has given the segment room to grow while other parts of the market face tighter controls. Some operators have started looking at prize draws as a way to add revenue outside the core casino and sportsbook business.
For ZEAL, this is the first time the company has moved into a product that is not a lottery, and the first time it has entered a country outside Germany. Whether it can apply what it knows about marketing and keeping customers to a British audience is the question the next 12 months will answer.