We've only just got started, warns Intertain chief

Intertain chief executive John FitzGerald (pictured) said the firm will look to become the biggest bingo operator in the world and warned its rivals it had “only just got started” in an interview with eGaming Review following the announcement of its £425m deal with Gamesys.

Speaking to eGaming Review, FitzGerald said the agreement, which will see Intertain obtain Gamesys’ JackpotJoy, Starspins and Botemania real-money and social casino brands, would catapult the operator into “the top seven or eight egaming operators in the world”.

And the former corporate lawyer warned the firm had “only just got started” and was already setting its sights on entering new jurisdictions in attempt to replicate the global success achieved by PokerStars in the online poker industry.

“We are going to stay entirely focussed on the female audience and bingo and try to become the biggest by far,” FitzGerald told eGR.

“It is similar to what PokerStars did – if you spoke to [PokerStars’ founder] Isai Scheinberg five years ago, he was all about focussing on one thing: poker. And that’s what we’re doing in bingo.

“Now it’s all about organic growth and leveraging that financial liquidity in new markets. We are going to enter new jurisdictions in a very calculated way [and] if we can take a dominant position in a new market then our growth can be exceptional,” he added.

The Gamesys deal, which is expected to complete in the coming weeks, was structured in a way that saw the UK-gaming giant retain all technology while agreeing to lease its platform and gaming content to Intertain for a period of 10 years.

The agreement also included a two-year non-compete clause which, when expired, will enable Gamesys to re-enter the B2C market with new brands.

However, FitzGerald shrugged off any concern a new Gamesys-powered brand could mount a serious threat to the market leaders.

“We’re going to be so far ahead in two years’ time with our player liquidity base that we become not quite a monopoly but probably an oligopoly with three or four players in the global online bingo market that will be relevant,” FitzGerald said.

“It’s going to be so difficult to start up from scratch and compete with us,” he added.

According to FitzGerald, Intertain had little interest in acquiring the Gamesys technology with the company, which was only formed early last year, instead concentrating on the marketing of its soon-to-be acquired brands.

“As a start up, you can’t do two great things,” FitzGerald said. “You can’t be great at technology and also be great marketers, so we’ve taken the position that we are going to be great at customer acquisition and retention, and we’ll deal with great suppliers,” he added.

The Gamesys deal was the latest, and the biggest, in a string of acquisitions made by Intertain. Last year the Canadian firm snapped-up Costa Bingo owner Mandalay Media for £60m and online casino operator Vera&John in a deal worth up to €89m.

And FitzGerald said there was definitely still room for Intertain to accommodate further acquisitions.

“You can raise a significant amount of capital if in fact you run your business properly [with regard to regulated markets],” he said.

You can read the full in-depth interview with John FitzGerald in the new issue of eGR out next week.