Betsson sets sights on regulated acquisitions

Betsson is running the rule over a number of potential regulated market acquisition targets including some in the UK, according to chief executive Magnus Silfverberg (pictured).

Speaking to eGaming Review following Friday’s Q4 results disclosure, Silfverberg said the operator was “always looking at acquisition targets” and currently favoured those within a licensing structure.

“We continue to evaluate opportunities and are looking more to the newly regulated markets or the soon-to-be regulated markets at the moment,” Silfverberg said.

A UK acquisition was mooted as one of a number of options, although Silfverberg said the firm remained undecided upon the commercial viability of a market which recently saw the introduction of a 15% gross profits tax.

Last summer the operator launched UK-facing casino Mr Smith, a product designed to help Betsson assess the value in the UK market.

eGR understands Mr Smith has so far been performing well and on Friday Silvferberg said the operator was in now the process of obtaining a full UK licence.

“In the UK we have a transitional licence and are in preparation to obtain a full licence which we expect to be handed out in March this year,” Silfverberg said.

“We also continue to evaluate the commercial viability of the Betsson brands in this market and we will make a final decision on how we act there later this year,” he added.

Friday’s Q4 results saw Betsson post its sixth consecutive quarter of growth with revenues up 24% to SEK814.7m (£64.4m), with full-year revenues up 23% to SEK3.04bn (£240m).

According to Silfverberg, the firm still has room in which to grow with only 75% of its revenues derived from its single Techsson platform.

This figure will soon increase with Nordicbet having migrated across to Techsson in December and Kroon Casino making the switch at the start of this month.

Nordicbet’s switch to Techsson has enabled the brand to offer more than double the number of in-running betting opportunities, more than four times the number of live streamed events and also increased CRM capabilities.

“We continue to move brands to the single platform and that will increase operational efficiency and give those brands that haven’t yet migrated a better chance of growing faster than they did last year,” Silfverberg said.

“We have more work to do with our current portfolio but there is probably operational capacity within a not too distance future to take on new brands,” he added.

The operator also identified a significant upside in the soon-to-be regulated Dutch market. Last year the firm acquired Netherlands-facing brands Oranje and Kroon Casino and estimated regulation, which is likely to be introduced in Q2 2016, would add 40% to the market.

Silfverberg said Betsson would add a Netherlands-facing sportsbook to one of its brands in 2015, although the firm had yet to identify which brand would carry the product.