By DhanushVignesh Babu

(Reuters) -Flutter Entertainment said on Tuesday it would buy Snaitech for 2.3 billion euros ($2.6 billion) including debt from gambling technology group Playtech, cementing its position as the leading gambling firm in Italy.

The deal is to close by the second quarter of 2025 and will add to earnings per share immediately for Flutter, the world's largest gambling company.

It will also see one of Italy's biggest gambling companies change hands and leave Playtech to focus on its operations as a business-to-business software provider.

It marks the second deal in a week for Flutter, which announced last Friday it would buy a 56% stake in Brazil's NSX Group, the operator of Betnacional, for about $350 million to expand in the soon-to-be regulated Brazilian market.

The move comes as Flutter, which has seen an influx of new customers and revenue from the United States, continues its aggressive international expansion.

Earlier this year, the company, whose brands include Paddy Power and Poker Stars, shifted its primary listing to New York from London.

The acquisition will strengthen Flutter's standing in Italy, giving it an online market share of about 30% when combined with existing Italian operations, Flutter said. Flutter already owns Sisal, one of the largest online gambling operators in Italy.

Flutter is in more than 20 countries globally, including the booming U.S. market where it operates the FanDuel brand.

Playtech has operations in 19 countries. Snaitech, its business-to-consumer unit, made 946.6 million euros in revenue last year.

The two parties have been in talks regarding Snaitech since August. Shares in the owner of FanDuel and Paddy Power added 0.8%, reaching their highest level since March 2024, while Playtech's shares rose as much as 2% to their highest since November 2021. ($1 = 0.8988 euros)