888 weighing Dragonfish spin-off; to launch non-UK bingo
888 is "constantly looking at" spinning off business-to-business arm Dragonfish, chief executive Gigi Levy said today, and will launch a push on bingo outside the UK in 2010 following 888's acquisition of Wink in December.
888 IS “constantly looking at” spinning off business-to-business (B2B) arm Dragonfish, chief executive Gigi Levy said today in the wake of year-end results which show Dragonfish to be the group’s star performer.
Speaking to EGRmagazine.com, Levy said that 888 will also launch a push on bingo outside the UK following 888’s acquisition of Wink Bingo in December, adding that this is likely to include the Nordic countries.
The comments followed 888’s final 2009 year-end results today, which showed group earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) 18% below last year’s, but Dragonfish revenue up by a third. The company does not report separate profit lines.
Regarding any future Dragonfish spin-off, Levy said that the company is “constantly looking at” that option “because it could be traded at better multiples.
“Also, one could argue that a non operator-related B2B business could be better at winning deals,” as a separate Dragonfish would not face any perception of conflict of interest by potential B2B clients that are sometimes experienced by dual B2B/B2C operators, Levy said.
However the chief executive stressed that any such perception was incorrect in 888’s case, highlighting Bwin Italia’s choice of Dragonfish as its casino supplier this week despite 888’s intention to operate in Italy as evidence. “We have just done a [B2B] deal with our biggest competitor on B2C as they saw there was no conflict,” he said.
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