Unibet switches to Virtue Fusion bingo network
Swedish operator moves from proprietary platform to Playtech owned Virtue Fusion bingo network.
Unibet’s Mariabingo.com, Bingo.com and other white label sites will switch from its own network to Virtue Fusion’s bingo network owned by Playtech, with Mor Weizer, the software provider’s CEO, calling the deal “one of the most significant B2B bingo deals in the past few years”.
Playtech will provide Unibet with its multi-currency, multi-language platform through its subsidiary, Virtue Fusion, which Unibet will use to grow its pan-European bingo business, it said.
Unibet has been a licensee of GTS, Playtech’s games tab platform provider, since 2006. According to Playtech the new agreement “greatly strengthens” the relationship and offers “enhanced scope for integration and cross-selling between the two products”.
“The deal reinforces the strength of Playtech’s bingo product and its ability to compete in the European market. We are delighted to be growing our relationship with Unibet and are excited by the cross-selling opportunities that today’s announcement will make possible,” Weizer added.
Henrik Tjärnström, Unibet, chief executive, said: “This agreement marks a very positive step for Unibet bingo and we are pleased to be working with Playtech. We’re happy that Virtue Fusion has delivered a strong bingo client “ designed by Unibet’s own in-house UX team “ which allows Unibet to gain the benefits of being on a network while retaining the unique offer in the market which is central to our strategy.”
Earlier in March this year Bingo.com joined the Unibet bingo and casino network Poweredbyunibet.com, bringing with it a database of nearly two million registered users. The platform features sites including Betty and Carat bingo and the Maria bingo brand Unibet bought in December 2007, the largest online bingo operator in the Nordic market.
At the time former Unibet chief executive Petter Nylander said the deal showed that the operator had a “quality bingo network with great understanding for local needs”.
Unibet then acquired a 25.9% stake in Bingo.com worth US$2.25m, which valued the company at just under $10m, however the bingo site posted a net loss of US$27,977 in the three months to 30 June this year. This figure was an improvement on the US$266,702 loss recorded during the comparable quarter in the prior year. Total revenue decreased 76% to US$369,000, from US$1.5m, which the company blamed on a loss of gaming activity resulting from the migration of its players to Unibet’s platform.
A month later Nylander resigned as chief executive and was replaced by Tjärnström, the group’s former chief financial officer and deputy chief executive.