From CETRON's view, the iGaming M&A market in 2026 is still active, but the speed of activity has changed compared with the previous year. Large transactions are still happening, but they are not appearing with the same intensity as before.
We see more or less one large deal per month. The trend is a little bit reduced compared to last year.
This does not describe a frozen market. It describes a more selective market. Buyers are still looking, sellers are still exploring exits, and investors are still reviewing opportunities, but the environment is more careful.
One reason is the wider global economy. International conflicts, uncertainty, and policy decisions from major countries can all affect how confident investors feel when they look at acquisitions. When the general environment becomes less predictable, investors often take more time before committing capital.
The second reason is more specific to regulated iGaming. In many mature regulated markets, a large part of the consolidation has already happened. The biggest and most obvious targets were often acquired in previous years, leaving fewer large opportunities available.
On regulated markets, the consolidation is more or less completed, and we do not see a lot of potential deals on the horizon.
For buyers, this means that easy targets may be harder to find. For sellers, it means that a business needs to show a clearer reason why it should be acquired. Strong revenue alone may not be enough if the buyer does not see strategic value, technology value, regulatory value, or growth potential.
The market still has room for deals, but the attention may move toward specific niches. Smaller assets, technology providers, affiliates, game studios, and regulated businesses with a clear advantage can still attract interest.
In this kind of market, preparation becomes more important. A company that is well presented, properly documented, and realistic about valuation can stand out more easily than a company that enters the market without structure.
CETRON is an M&A brokerage company focused on the iGaming sector. The company works with buyers, sellers, startups, funds, strategic investors, and small to medium-sized iGaming assets.
Glebs Chernovs and Viktors Troicins are both co-owners of CETRON. At the time of the interview, the company had been operating for a bit less than one year, but it was already building a clear position in the iGaming deal market.
The idea behind CETRON came from a gap they saw in the lower-ticket M&A space. Large acquisitions are usually handled by investment banks, professional advisors, private equity teams, legal departments, and experienced internal M&A teams. Smaller and medium-sized transactions are often less structured.
We saw that there are a lot of unstructured things happening in the M&A world, especially if we are speaking about lower checks.
This lack of structure can create problems for both sides. A seller may not know how to prepare the business for sale. A buyer may not receive enough reliable information. A good asset may fail to reach the right investor because the process is too informal.
CETRON was created to bring more order into this part of the market. The company aims to organize the process, connect the right parties, and help smaller and medium-sized iGaming deals move in a more professional way.
For a founder trying to sell an online casino business, affiliate project, technology company, or game studio, structure can make a real difference. It can affect how the business is presented, which buyers see it, how serious those buyers are, and whether the process reaches a real transaction.
One of CETRON's first major milestones is its investor network. According to the interview, the company has already built a database of more than 150 groups and institutional investors.
We have a pretty decent database of investors already, more than 150 groups and institutional investors.
This kind of investor access is important because an M&A brokerage company needs more than a list of sellers. It also needs to understand which buyers are active, what kind of assets they want, how much they are ready to invest, and what type of deal structure they prefer.
CETRON works directly with large groups and funds. This helps the company follow investor demand in real time, instead of relying only on old information or general market assumptions.
We are in daily contact with big groups and big funds, which lets us understand their needs on a daily basis.
This daily contact matters because investor priorities can change quickly. A buyer that wanted operator assets a few months ago may later shift toward technology companies, affiliates, regulated assets, or game studios. Market appetite is not fixed.
Another milestone is the internal structure that CETRON has built. The company aims to take small and mid-sized assets and present them directly to known brands, serious customers, and professional investors.
In an industry where many conversations still happen informally, that structured approach can be valuable. A more organized process can help avoid wasted time, unclear expectations, weak documentation, and unrealistic pricing.
For small and medium-sized businesses, access to the right investor network can be difficult. CETRON's role is to reduce that gap and make the process more direct.
By the time of the interview, CETRON had already closed a couple of deals. The company was also working with several customers at a late due diligence stage, with the expectation that more transactions could close in the near future.
We should mention a couple of deals we already closed, and with a couple of customers we are at the late due diligence stage.
For a young M&A brokerage company, this is a meaningful result. Deal work usually moves slowly. Even when both sides are interested, the process often includes many stages before a transaction is completed.
A potential buyer may first review basic information, then request more data, then negotiate commercial terms, then enter due diligence, then involve lawyers, auditors, and technical experts. Each stage can create delays or reveal new questions.
This is why early closed deals are important. They show that CETRON is not only collecting mandates, but also helping transactions move toward completion.
Closed deals also show access to both sides of the market. A broker needs sellers who trust the process, but also buyers who are ready to look seriously at opportunities. Without both sides, a deal pipeline can remain theoretical.
In the iGaming sector, this can be especially difficult because many companies are founder-led, private, international, and sometimes cautious about sharing information. Building enough trust to move a transaction forward is part of the work.
iGaming is still a young industry compared with many traditional sectors. Mature industries often have long-established acquisition patterns, deeper financial reporting standards, experienced management teams, and a larger number of institutional investors.
In general, the iGaming industry is pretty young. If we compare it with traditional industries, those industries are very structured and professionalized.
In iGaming, many companies were founded by individuals during the last 10 years. Some of these businesses grew quickly, especially during strong market periods, but their internal processes may not look like those of older industries.
This creates a special challenge for M&A. A company may have strong traffic, good revenue, valuable technology, or a licensed operation, but the documents behind the business may not be fully prepared for investor review.
A founder-led iGaming business may also depend heavily on the founder's personal network, informal contracts, or a small core team. That does not make the business unattractive, but it can make the acquisition process more complex.
The M&A process here is not really structured and super professional if we compare it to other industries.
Professional investors often expect detailed financials, legal documentation, ownership clarity, tax structure, compliance records, contracts, technology information, and clear reporting. If these are missing or incomplete, the process can slow down.
This creates both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is that iGaming deals can be harder to prepare and harder to evaluate. The opportunity is that advisors who understand the sector can help bring structure into the process.
For sellers, this means that a valuable business still needs to be presented properly. For buyers, it means that sector knowledge is important when reviewing an iGaming asset.
CETRON works with a broad range of mandates. Because the company focuses on small and mid-sized deals, the number of potential opportunities is high.
We have more than 100 mandates already because we are focused on small and mid-sized deals.
These mandates can include startups raising capital, smaller assets looking for buyers, and mid-sized companies exploring strategic options. The range can be wide, from very small fundraising rounds to deals worth several million.
This gives investors a broad choice of possible investments. Some investors may want early-stage exposure. Others may look for existing revenue, licensed operations, affiliate traffic, technology tools, or game content.
We are working with startups that are trying to raise from very small amounts to several millions.
However, having many mandates does not mean that every mandate becomes a completed transaction. M&A has a natural filtering process. Some businesses are not ready. Some valuations are too high. Some buyers lose interest. Some deals fail during due diligence.
This is normal in the sector. Many companies may test the market, but only some deals reach signing and completion.
For CETRON, the large number of mandates creates market visibility. It allows the company to see what kinds of businesses are trying to raise, sell, or find strategic partners. It also helps identify where investor interest is strongest.
For buyers, this wide deal flow can be useful because it gives access to different types of assets in one place. For sellers, it increases the chance of being matched with a relevant investor instead of approaching the market randomly.
When asked about market activity, CETRON did not focus mainly on geography. Instead, the discussion separated the market into regulated markets and non-regulated or grey markets.
We should not speak about geography country-wise, but split the markets between regulated and non-regulated or grey markets.
Regulated markets remain attractive because they provide a clearer legal framework. A licensed business can be valuable because regulation creates barriers to entry. Not every company can enter a regulated market quickly or cheaply.
At the same time, many regulated markets have already gone through major consolidation. In recent years, larger groups have bought many of the obvious operator assets. This means there may now be less space left for simple operator acquisitions.
Because of this, technology is becoming one of the most interesting areas. CETRON sees potential in smaller and more agile technology companies, especially as artificial intelligence and automation continue to affect the industry.
With AI, we see much more agile and smaller companies providing much better technology than some heritage companies.
This is important because iGaming depends heavily on technology. Operators need tools for payments, compliance, fraud prevention, data, CRM, marketing, player experience, risk control, and product management.
A small technology company that solves a real operational problem may become attractive even if it is not a large operator. In some cases, technology can scale across multiple markets faster than a regulated casino business.
For investors, this can make technology assets especially interesting. A strong product can be sold to operators, suppliers, affiliates, or platforms across many jurisdictions. It can also create strategic value for larger groups that want to upgrade their systems.
This shift does not mean that regulated operators are no longer attractive. It means that the most obvious consolidation may already be behind the market, while the next wave of activity may come from technology and specialist assets.
The iGaming sector includes many different types of companies. These include operators, game studios, affiliates, platforms, payment providers, compliance tools, data products, and other technology businesses.
CETRON sees interest across several categories, but some areas stand out more clearly.
Regulated businesses are attractive to a broad range of investors, especially in the small and medium deal segment. Regulation can create value because licenses, compliance systems, and market access are not easy to build from zero.
Everything that is regulated, if we are speaking about small and medium checks, is interesting for a pretty broad amount of investors.
Affiliate businesses are also interesting, especially when they are more than just a small team. A well-established affiliate asset can have valuable traffic, strong rankings, recurring revenue, operator relationships, and a proven marketing model.
A well-established affiliate business is also something that people are looking for pretty much.
Game studios are another important category. Investors are often interested in studios that have original ideas, early traction, and a clear creative direction. A studio does not always need a huge catalogue to become interesting. A strong start and a fresh concept can already create attention.
Game studios with bright ideas, with a nice start, are something that people are constantly looking for on the market.
Technology companies are also becoming more visible in M&A discussions. This includes products that help operators work faster, reduce costs, improve compliance, automate tasks, or increase player value.
From the interview, the most interesting categories can be summarized as:
The common factor is not only the business type. Investors want assets that are understandable, scalable, and realistic. A clear story, strong documentation, and a reasonable valuation can make a company more attractive.
CETRON usually works with established investors. These can include large iGaming groups, funds, and private equity investors.
We usually work with established investors. Typically, it is a large group operating in iGaming, or it is a fund or private equity.
These investors usually already have professional M&A teams. They know how to review businesses, structure offers, run due diligence, and evaluate returns.
This can make the process more professional, but it also raises the standard for sellers. A serious investor will not only look at a short pitch deck or a revenue number. They will want to understand the full business.
These investors are very professional. They usually have their M&A teams, and their approach is very structured.
For a seller, this is an important point. A professional buyer may ask about ownership, licenses, financial reports, contracts, payment processing, traffic sources, player databases, technology, compliance procedures, and the team behind the company.
If the seller cannot answer these questions clearly, the buyer may become cautious. Even a strong business can lose momentum if the information is incomplete or poorly organized.
Established investors also think in terms of returns. They are not only buying what the business is today. They are also judging the risk, future growth, integration difficulty, and exit potential.
This is one reason why preparation matters before entering an M&A process. A business may be valuable, but it needs to be presented in a way that professional investors can review with confidence.
The iGaming industry is often described as closed. Many important conversations happen through existing networks, private introductions, conferences, and long-term relationships.
As we all know, the iGaming industry is pretty closed.
This makes access important. A buyer may not publicly announce what it wants to acquire. A seller may not publicly announce that the business is available. Many deal conversations begin privately.
CETRON uses the previous experience of its founders and their existing industry network. This helps the company bring buyers and sellers together through different channels.
Personal networks are especially important in M&A because trust is a key part of the process. Before a seller shares sensitive information, there needs to be confidence that the buyer is serious. Before a buyer spends time on due diligence, there needs to be confidence that the seller is realistic.
Events are also part of the process. The interview took place at SBC Summit Malta 2026, and CETRON was using the event to meet people constantly. According to the interview, the team was having meetings almost every half hour.
That is why we are here in Malta. We are speaking more or less every half hour. We have meetings, meetings, meetings.
This shows how important live iGaming events can be for business development. Online communication is useful, but M&A often depends on face-to-face contact. Conferences can help people test interest, build trust, and move conversations forward faster.
For smaller and medium-sized businesses, this can be especially useful. A founder may not have direct access to large buyers or funds. A broker with a strong network can make those introductions more realistic.
Valuation is one of the most difficult parts of any M&A process. In iGaming, it can be even harder because many deals are private and not publicly disclosed.
In the iGaming industry, it is not easy to have a proper valuation because the markets are not very transparent.
When transaction data is limited, it becomes difficult to compare multiples. A seller may not know what similar businesses were sold for. A buyer may have its own internal model, but the seller may expect a very different number.
Professional investors usually have a clear view of valuation. They know what return they need, what risk they accept, and what kind of deal structure makes sense for them.
We usually work with very structured and professional M&A teams from the investor side. They have in mind their valuation and their returns.
That investor view becomes an important reference point. If several serious buyers see a business within a similar valuation range, that can help establish a realistic market price.
On the other side, CETRON also works with startups. Some startup founders set valuations that are not grounded in market reality. This can happen when a founder is emotionally attached to the business, expects future growth to be priced too heavily, or does not have enough deal data.
We work with many startups who are taking their valuation sometimes from the air, and those valuations could not be very reasonable.
This does not mean that startups cannot be valuable. It means that valuation needs to be supported by a clear business case. Investors need to see why the number makes sense.
In practice, the final price is usually determined through negotiation. The buyer and seller need to agree not only on the headline price, but also on the structure of the deal.
This structure can include cash at closing, earnouts, performance targets, retained equity, warranties, and other legal or financial terms. In some cases, the structure can be just as important as the headline valuation.
A typical M&A deal can take from three months to one year. The timeline depends on the size of the transaction, the type of business, the complexity of the structure, and the readiness of the seller.
The typical M&A deal will probably take from three months to a year, depending on the deal size and deal structure.
CETRON described the process as several long stages. Each stage can take around one month, and some stages can take longer if information is missing or negotiations become difficult.
The first stage is information preparation. This is where the seller prepares financials, pitch materials, business documents, ownership information, operational data, and any other materials needed by investors.
The next stage is going to market. This is where the asset is introduced to relevant buyers or investors. Good targeting matters here because not every buyer is suitable for every business.
After that, the process usually moves into investor outreach, commercial discussions, negotiation, and the development of a term sheet. If the main terms are agreed, the deal can move into due diligence.
It takes several stages, from information preparation, to going to market, to investor outreach, to negotiations, to due diligence, and then the sales and purchase agreement.
Due diligence can be one of the most demanding parts of the process. Buyers may review financial records, contracts, technology, licensing, compliance, ownership, tax matters, and business risks.
After due diligence, the parties still need to negotiate the final sales and purchase agreement. This legal stage can include warranties, liabilities, closing conditions, payment terms, and post-closing obligations.
This timeline is important for founders and buyers to understand. Selling a business is not usually a quick event. It is a process that requires preparation, patience, and professional support.
For the remainder of 2026, CETRON highlighted political and regulatory developments as major areas to watch. The global political situation remains complicated, and uncertainty can affect investor decisions.
We should look out for the political situation in the world, because it is becoming more and more challenging and complicated.
Political uncertainty can affect investment appetite, capital flows, regulation, and business confidence. For companies considering acquisitions, this can influence timing and risk tolerance.
Regulation is another key topic. CETRON mentioned changes in the United Kingdom, the opening of Finland, and the opening of New Zealand as examples of market changes that people in iGaming should follow.
We saw the changes in the UK. We see the opening of Finland. We see the opening of New Zealand.
For operators, suppliers, affiliates, and investors, regulatory change can create both risks and opportunities. A new licensing system may increase compliance costs, but it can also create a clearer market and increase investor confidence.
A stricter market may reduce the number of active operators, but it may also increase the value of companies that are already compliant. For buyers, a licensed and well-prepared business can become more attractive when regulation becomes more demanding.
Newly opening markets can also create acquisition opportunities. Instead of building everything from zero, some investors may prefer to buy existing technology, local knowledge, traffic, or operational infrastructure.
CETRON also made a broader comment about uncertainty and the iGaming sector. In difficult political or economic conditions, iGaming can sometimes remain resilient or even become more active.
As worse the political situation is in the world, as better the iGaming industry feels. Maybe that is a good point for us.
This should not be understood as a simple rule for every market. However, it reflects a common view in the industry that online entertainment and gambling can behave differently from many other sectors during uncertain periods.
For the rest of 2026, the main message is to keep watching regulation, political developments, investor appetite, and technology. These factors can all shape where the next deals happen.
The final question focused on advice for people who want to buy or sell an iGaming business. For sellers, CETRON's message was that preparation does not need to be overly complicated, but it must be done properly.
For people who want to sell, it is not a very complicated process to be prepared.
Sellers can use many available tools to prepare information, organize documents, structure the business story, and create a clear pitch deck. This can help investors understand the opportunity faster.
Good preparation can include financial reports, traffic data, customer information, licensing details, contracts, technology documentation, team structure, and a clear explanation of why the business is valuable.
However, the stronger message was that both buyers and sellers should use professional advisors. M&A can become emotional, especially when founders are selling a business they built themselves.
Both sellers and buyers should involve professional advisors into the process who can facilitate the deal without emotions being involved.
A professional advisor can help keep the process structured. This can be important when discussions become difficult, when expectations are different, or when negotiations become emotional.
CETRON also emphasized that M&A advisors are only one part of the process. Lawyers, auditors, and technical experts can all play important roles.
It is very important to work with professionals in the whole process, not only M&A advisors, but also lawyers, auditors, and technical people.
For iGaming companies, this advice is especially relevant. The sector can involve licenses, payment providers, affiliate contracts, game content, platform technology, player databases, compliance controls, and cross-border structures.
A deal can look simple at first, but the details can be complex. A buyer may need to verify financials, review legal risks, check contracts, understand the technology, and assess compliance issues.
For sellers, the lesson is clear: prepare before going to market. For buyers, the lesson is also clear: use the right experts before committing to a transaction.
In iGaming M&A, a good deal is not only about finding the right buyer or seller. It is also about managing the process properly from the first conversation to the final agreement.