Entertainment
Fortuna Entertainment Group (FEG) has agreed to purchase a 70% stake in Lithuania’s top gambling operator, TOPsport. This move gives FEG control over the country’s leading betting platform.
The company from Prague announced the deal on LinkedIn, stating it’s a record transaction for its parent firm, Penta Investments. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed.
TOPsport currently controls about 54% of Lithuania’s closed gaming market and posted an EBITDA exceeding 65 million in 2025. With this pickup, FEG enters the Baltic region for the first time, increasing its country count to eight.
TOPsport started in 2002 as Lithuania’s first legal betting business and has grown into the most-visited online gambling site in the country. It operates more than 50 land-based gaming locations across Lithuania.
The Lithuanian gambling market has expanded alongside TOPsport’s growth. In the first half of 2025, the market generated 131.5 million in gross gaming revenue. Forecasts suggest annual revenue could hit 376 million by 2028. Per capita, Lithuanians spend one of the highest amounts on gambling in Europe, averaging around that amount annually.
Dieter John, who became FEG’s CEO in January 2025, said:
The Baltics represent a region with high growth potential for FEG. Entering Lithuania by acquiring the market leader is a decisive step in our ambitious long-term growth strategy.
The deal has been sent to Lithuanian regulators for official clearance.
For Penta, the Czech-Slovak private equity group that owns FEG, this move is arguably the biggest single investment in its gaming holdings to date. Penta, set up by Jaroslav Hak and Marek Dospiva, operates a $5.5 billion business with sectors including healthcare, financial services, media, real estate, and manufacturing. Gambling makes up just one piece of that portfolio – FEG. The company reported a net profit of 621 million euros in 2024.
Acquisitions continue to drive FEGs expansion plan. Fortuna first launched in the Czech Republic in 1990 and went public on the Prague and Warsaw stock exchanges. Penta took full control of the company in 2018. In 2025, it picked up a 51 percent stake in lob, Montenegro’s second-largest betting firm. That earlier purchase also included Romania’s Casa Pariurilor and Croatia’s PSK Sports under FEGs ownership. At least in theory, these moves support long-term market presence across Eastern Europe.
The company currently operates in seven European countries: Czech Republic, Slovakia Poland, Croatia Romania Montenegro, and Lithuania. The company employs more than 5,000 workers and constantly hires new ones. This development coincides with Lithuania’s tightening of its regulatory framework – the amendments to the gambling law, which will be effective in November 2025, include raising the legal age to 21, restricting the ways in which betting companies can be featured in sports advertisements, and considerably decreasing advertising expenditures as a step towards the complete ban of all ads.
Fortuna was also subject to acquisition. In 2024, Penta considered divesting FEG, there were rumors that a transaction could have a value of 2 billion, and JPMorgan participated in the initial discussions – nevertheless, it appears the plan was not taken to the next stage.
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Mary Simonyan