Launches and sign-ups 26 May 2015
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (21 May to 26 May 2015)
Rank retains “watching brief” on M&A
CEO Henry Birch says operator is not “being left behind” during recent industry consolidation and ongoing M&A talks
The Rank Group will keep a “watching brief” on potential acquisitions and would not be “left behind” as industry consolidation continues to heat up in the wake of bwin.party deal speculation, according to chief executive Henry Birch.
In an interim management statement (IMS) released last week, the UK-based firm announced a double-digit rise in online revenues for the 20 weeks ended 17 May and said its current financial position could be used to finance future M&A deals.
“We have a strengthening balance sheet which is a nice problem to deal with ultimately in terms of what to do with our cash,” Birch said in an analyst call following the IMS.
“Our position hasn’t changed on acquisitions and we keep a watching brief – our guiding principle is about where we think we can get value and strategic advantage,” he added.
NYX expands into Italy with latest acquisition
NYX Gaming Group announced plans for a launch in the Italian market after announcing the acquisition of Rome-based development studio Game360 for an undisclosed sum.
The firm said Game360 develops, markets and distributes online gaming content with a focus on native and HTML5 formats and sports betting solutions to over a dozen Italy-facing operators.
NYX said the acquisition of Game360 had been funded through cash on hand, and would allow the supplier to enter the regulated Italian market for the first time.
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
OpenBet makes TV play with new customer win
OpenBet has teamed up with new televised betting service Win Cash Live, which aims to capitalise on the growth of second screening in the UK by offering betting on “softer” markets such as X Factor.
Win Cash Live, which soft launched earlier this month, is broadcast on Sky UK channel 192 every night between 10pm and 1am and previews betting opportunities broadly aimed at the female audience.
OpenBet has supplied its off-the-shelf backend platform for WinCashLive.com, which enables customers to place bets and view a live stream of the channel outside of its Sky broadcasting hours, while OpenBet’s casino products will also be added shortly.
Unikrn unveils UK-facing eSports betting site
US-based entertainment company Unikrn has announced the official launch of its eSports betting platform in the UK in partnership with Australian gambling company Tabcorp.
Unikrn Arena allows UK-based customers to watch and bet on eSport matches and tournaments across the globe on desktop and mobile via a strategic partnership with Tabcorp’s online gambling subsidiary Luxbet.
The platform also features live streaming and chat functionality, while Luxbet will be responsible for account identification processes as well as odds making and risk management.
Contagious agrees £3.6m acquisition of sportsbook Digitote
Software developer Contagious Gaming has agreed to acquire Germany and Isle of Man-based sportsbook software suppliers Digitote in a 5m (£3.6m) deal, as it also announced it would be pulling out of a deal to acquire another supplier, Chelbis.
The purchase of Digitote will be paid through a combination of common shares in Contagious Gaming, cash and a vendor take-back, the firm said.
“The Acquisition of Digitote expands Contagious Gaming’s sports betting offering by enabling us to provide our customers with a multi-channel live in-play and pre-match fixed odd sports betting platform alongside our proprietary in-play pari-mutuel Goal Time offering,” Peter Glancy, CEO and Director of the Company, said.