Winvia Entertainment has agreed to acquire The Giveaway Guys and Win Life Competitions in a deal initially valued at £19.1 million. The AIM-listed company announced the asset purchase agreement on Monday, 28 September 2026. It is targeting greater scale in Britain’s fragmented prize-draw market.

Winvia is expanding just as the prize-draw sector faces stronger expectations on age checks, transparency, complaints handling and customer protection.

The transaction covers the businesses and key assets of both UK-based platforms. It excludes liabilities, cash and trade receivables. Completion depends on the transfer of key supplier agreements and is expected by the end of October 2026.

What Winvia is buying

The Giveaway Guys has operated since 2020. Win Life is a newer brand focused mainly on campervans. Winvia said both businesses offer daily and scheduled prize draws and have built recurring customer activity.

  • £15.47 million is payable when the deal completes.
  • £3.63 million is deferred until the first anniversary of completion.
  • A further earnout may be payable after two years, based on adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

The businesses generated combined gross revenue of £30.3 million in the 12 months to June 2026. The agreed purchase price was based on adjusted EBITDA of £4.25 million for the same period.

Gross revenue is not the same as profit or cash generated. That distinction matters because the headline £30.3 million figure does not show how much money the businesses retained after costs.

Winvia plans to fund the purchase from existing cash resources. It expects the acquisition to increase earnings in the first full financial year after completion. Certain employees will remain with the enlarged group.

A consolidation push

The acquisition follows Winvia’s purchase of Rev Comps, which completed in July 2026. The company also operates Best of the Best and Click Competitions. It has launched a prize-draw partnership with Aston Villa Football Club.

Winvia’s half-year results showed that its prize-draw segment generated £41.1 million in gross revenue during the first half of 2026.

  • Marketing spending reached £14 million, up from £2.6 million a year earlier.
  • The spending supported customer acquisition, subscriptions and platform migration.
  • Adjusted EBITDA fell to a £1 million loss for the half year.

Winvia said the division delivered its strongest monthly adjusted EBITDA in August. It expects the figure to trend close to £2 million a month during the fourth quarter. Those are company forecasts and trading updates, not audited results.

Why the British market matters

Prize draws sit close to gambling but are not automatically regulated as gambling in Great Britain. A free draw with paid and free entry routes must meet legal conditions. The free route must be no less convenient and no less visible than the paid route.

A prize competition must rely on genuine skill, knowledge or judgement. A simple question that most people can answer will usually not be enough to keep a scheme outside the definition of an illegal lottery.

The Gambling Commission says it does not approve free draws or prize competitions. Its guidance makes clear that the legal status depends on how each product is structured and operated.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport published a voluntary code for prize-draw operators on 1 September 2026. The code applies to Great Britain and calls for stronger age checks, complaints handling, transparency and player protection.

The code does not replace consumer law, advertising rules, data-protection duties or the Gambling Act 2005.

Government research cited in the code estimated that the wider UK prize-draw market was worth £1.3 billion a year. It estimated 7.4 million adult participants and more than 400 operators.

The research also found a strong overlap with commercial gambling and lotteries. That overlap has pushed safer-play concerns higher up the agenda, even though prize draws are not automatically gambling products.

What changes next

The immediate test is operational. Winvia must transfer the supplier agreements, complete the purchase and integrate the two platforms without disrupting entries, prize fulfilment or customer support.

The wider test is trust. A larger operator can share technology, automate processes and build subscription revenue. It will also face closer scrutiny over free-entry routes, age verification, marketing claims, complaints and customers who may use both prize draws and regulated gambling products.

The acquisition does not confirm that either platform holds a Gambling Commission licence. It is an expansion in the prize-draw sector, where legal status depends on the details of each product and its operation in Great Britain.