888 to acquire William Hill’s non-US business for $3.03bn

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Holdings has entered into an agreement with Caesars Entertainment to acquire the non-US business of William Hill for a total of £2.2bn ($3.03bn).

As stated by 888, the acquisition aims to create a global online betting and gaming leader by combining “two of the industry’s leading brands,” representing a transformational opportunity for the company to “significantly increase its scale, further diversify its product mix and accelerate the upward shift of its revenue growth profile.”

The combination of the two groups is expected to deliver pre-tax cost synergies of at least £100m per year, with 888 noting that annual revenue and adjusted EBITDA for 2020 would have been $2.5bn and $464m respectively.

“The acquisition of William Hill International is a transformational and hugely exciting moment in 888’s history,” said 888 CEO Itai Pazner. “This transaction will create one of the world’s leading online betting and gaming groups with superior scale, exceptional brands, increased diversification, and a platform for strong growth.

“William Hill is an iconic sports brand, making it the ideal complement to 888, one of the leading global online gaming brands. Our strategies are also complementary, being digitally led, customer focused, and committed to player protection and raising industry standards around safer gambling.

“We have been incredibly impressed with the William Hill management team, and I look forward to working with them and the wider William Hill team to create great products for our customers, driven by best in class technology, powerful brands, and benefitting from our significantly enhanced scale.”

Caesars said that the transaction is subject to receipt of the approval of 888 shareholders and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. Deutsche Bank and Linklaters LLP represented Caesars on the transaction.

888 Chair Lord Jon Mendelsohn commented: “This acquisition is an incredible opportunity to combine our world-class gaming brand with a unique and iconic sports betting brand to create a global leader in the online sports betting and gaming industry.

“We believe the acquisition will create significant value for shareholders, creating a combined business with leading technology, products and brands across sports betting, gaming and poker, supported by top quality management talent from both businesses.”

Pragmatic Play set for African expansion with intelligent gaming deal

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Pragmatic Play, a leading content provider to the iGaming industry, is now distributing its premium products to the first one of Intelligent Gaming’s tier one operators going live with immediate effect.

 

Supabets are one of South Africa’s largest and most innovative wagering operators and are proud to be the first operator in the country to offer the incredible suite of products offered by Pragmatic Play.

A renowned operator in the region, Intelligent Gaming’s players will gain access to Pragmatic Play’s repertoire of high-quality slots such as the popular John Hunter series and its range of Megaways™ games, including Power of Thor Megaways™.

Also, to debut on Intelligent Gaming’s platform will be the supplier’s Live Casino content, including classics table games Blackjack, Roulette and Baccarat, as well as the innovative gameshow inspired Mega Wheel and the thrilling Mega Roulette. Intelligent Gaming are also set to take Pragmatic Play’s virtual sports and scratch cards offering.

The partnership marks Pragmatic Play’s continued momentum in South Africa and comes on the back of diligent compliance work undertaken to ensure the smooth and timely delivery of the project.

Yossi Barzely, Chief Business Development Officer at Pragmatic Play, said:

“South Africa is yet another region that is key to our development goals so it’s exciting to get on board with a partner such as Intelligent Gaming. Their insight and experience in the market is essential and we’re thoroughly looking forward to working with them.”

Intelligent Gaming CEO, Marc Plaxton-Harrison said:

“Intelligent Gaming are extremely excited to introduce Pragmatic Play to the South African market – it has a tremendously diverse content offering filled with quality titles. The entire Pragmatic Play team have been very agile and hands on and are set to be a strong force in the market here.”

Currently producing up to five new slot titles a month, Pragmatic Play also delivers Bingo games as part of its multi-product portfolio, available through one single API.

TVBET goes live in Kenya and Nigeria via Sahara Games

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The world’s leading provider of live-streaming games, TVBET continues to expand in Africa through a partnership with Sahara Games. 13 live games of TVBET are already available for players at Sahara Games Kenyan and Nigerian websites. With this deal, the provider will be able to strengthen its position in the region, while the operator will be able to offer even more opportunities to its players.

 

The expanding TV games provider company is committed to offering products that meet the needs of its customers while continuing to expand its network of partners in various countries. This time, TVBET has launched its products at two regional Sahara Games’ websites, and now its games are available for Kenyans and Nigerians. TVBET products are high-quality live card and table games and lotteries. Professionally hosted by fully trained and experienced TV presenters, TVBET beams the games live using the cutting edge webcam and HD streaming technology.

Sahara Games operator is a part of Sahara Game Technology Corporation. The Sahara Game Technology Corporation is an omnichannel gaming company offering sportsbook and casino games for both land-based and online players.

Sроrts орtiоns listеd оn thе Sаhаrа Gаmеs wеbsitе inсludе betting on football, basketball, tennis, volleyball and other “traditional” sports, betting on virtual sports, e-sports, various casino games, live casino, etc. Now clients of Nigerian and Kenyan Sahara Games may enjoy the full kit of TVBET live games.

TVBET sees amazing prospects in a new partnership with Sahara Games since it helps the provider to expand its presence in South Africa. Herewith, Sahara Games has the opportunity to diversify its portfolio with top-notch TV games.

Besides, if you want to learn more about TVBET products firsthand, you can visit stand J61 at IGB Live, which will be carried out on 28 September — 1 October 2021 in Amsterdam. Book a meeting with TVBET representatives in advance via sales@tvbet.tv.

About TVBET
TVBET is a well-known B2B provider offering top-notch live betting solutions. Its portfolio includes 13 easy and fast card games and lotteries, which have been adapted for the online streaming format. TVBET games are broadcasted all around the globe from a single studio located in Warsaw, Poland. All the events go live with minimum breaks between them of less than 2 minutes. The API- integration makes it possible to adjust its interactive frame to any platform.

Paysafe and Betfred USA agree expanded partnership to include Income Access

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Specialized payments platform Paysafe has agreed an expanded partnership with Betfred USA Sports, the wholly-owned US subsidiary of UK-based bookmaker Betfred Group.

The deal sees Betfred USA Sports build on an existing relationship to plug into the affiliate marketing software of Income Access, Paysafe’s marketing technology and services provider, for the upcoming launch of a multi-state affiliate program.

The firm currently leverages the Skrill USA digital wallet for its Iowa online sportsbook, and credit and debit card payment processing via Paysafe’s payment gateway for its online sports-betting brand for the Colorado market.

Both online gaming brands were unveiled in September 2020 and followed the launch of respective retail sportsbooks earlier that year.

With its market presence and strong brand recognition, Betfred USA Sports claims to be well positioned for continued growth in the regulated US igaming space. The launch, scheduled for later this year, of its Income Access-powered affiliate program will support that objective.

The operator will utilize a robust reporting and tracking platform to nurture relationships with marketing partners in both the digital and retail space. The program is set to first launch in Colorado with additional states forthcoming.

Income Access will use its technology to help Betfred USA Sports strengthen its acquisition efforts across multiple regulated states. The platform will also allow the operator and its affiliates to collaborate more effectively in promoting a comprehensive range of wagering options across American and international sports.

Tara Wilson, Chief Operating Officer of Income Access, said: “This expanded partnership is an incredible opportunity for Paysafe to build on our momentum in the US market, while working to support our flagship American partner Betfred USA Sports’ long-term growth and success.

“For Income Access, this marks another important step in showcasing our ability to drive meaningful collaboration between our partners and affiliates in the regulated US sports betting space.”

Bryan Bennett, Chief Operating Officer of Betfred USA Sports, commented: “As we continue to ramp-up our online operations across the US, Paysafe and Income Access are valuable tools to meet customer needs while tracking and scaling our affiliate marketing program. We look forward to continuing the relationship as we eye our launches in new jurisdictions.”

TVBET is in shortlisted at EGR B2B Awards 2021 in 4 nominations.

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EGR B2B Awards is organized by EGR Global to reward the best service providers in the online gaming industry, recognizing the achievements of suppliers from across all the major igaming disciplines, including betting and gaming software, mobile, payments, recruitment, IT and infrastructure, and many more.

 

And TVBET team is grateful for recognition and nomination on 4 categories:

  • Live casino supplier
  • Live streaming supplier
  • Lottery supplier
  • Poker supplier

The award ceremony will take place on July 6th, 2021. Waiting for further updates in the summer, fingers crossed🤞

DraftKings reports $312m revenue for Q1 2021

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By Gambling Insider,

DraftKings has announced its first quarter 2021 earnings report, which reveals the company made a 175% year-on-year increase in revenue to $312m.

During the period, the company had 1.5 million monthly unique paying customers and on average they engaged with DraftKings each month during the fourth quarter, a 114% yearly increase.

Due to the successful start to the year, DraftKings will be raising its full year 2021 revenue guidance, from $900m/$1bn to $1.05bn/$1.15bn. This will be a 16% increase in comparison to the midpoint of its previous guidance.

DraftKings CEO, Jason Robins, said: “We continued to make progress and remain on track with the migration to our own in-house proprietary sports betting engine, strengthened our content and technology capabilities with the acquisitions of VSiN and BlueRibbon Software, and invested in further differentiating our product offering with the upcoming rollout of social functionality in our DFS (daily fantasy sports) and mobile Sportsbook apps.”

DraftKings’ CFO, Jason Park, added: “Our $312m in first quarter revenue, 114% increase in MUPs and 48% growth in ARPMUP reflect solid customer acquisition and retention, as well as successful launches of mobile sports betting and online gaming in new states.

“We are raising our revenue outlook for 2021 due to the outperformance of our core business in the first quarter and our expectation for continued healthy growth.”

DraftKings will also be announcing the rollout of social functionality to its DFS and mobile sportsbook apps, allowing fans to interact with each other withing a peer-to-peer environment.

Advantage Entain: Analysts feel Apollo’s Tabcorp bid faces challenges

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By Gambling Insider

Recently, Apollo Management made a $2.7bn bid for Tabcorp’s Wagering and Media arm, matching an Entain proposal sent in April.

But since Apollo is not a proven wagering operator, MST Maquee gaming analyst Rohan Sundram believes would be difficult for the company to gain support within the racing industry, as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Due to Tabcorp’s agreement with several state racing bodies, a takeover from Apollo may complicate the process.

Sundram says the Australian state racing bodies will play a big part in the sale of Tabcorp, since a new owner will need to renegotiate Tabcorp’s retail and betting licences.

Therefore, partners and bodies tied down with Tabcorp will want to prioritise a new owner they feel will be the best at competing in the industry.

The episode may bear resemeblance to Apollo’s bid for William Hill’s US assets, with William Hill instead being taken over by Caesars Entertainment.

Earlier in February, Influential Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys said any deal for Tabcorp assets would need his approval.

In support of Sundram, Evans and Partners analyst, James Fuller, agrees that the racing industry will affect Apollo’s bid.

He says that, unlike Entain, Apollo does not have local or global wagering operations that can be used to enhance the value of Tabcorp’s wagering and returns.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether Apollo will be succesful in its Tabcorp takeover bid. But so far analysts aren’t convinced, leaving Entain in pole position.

Gaming Innovation Group terminates agreement due to ‘change in strategy’

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By Gambling Insider

Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has terminated a platform agreement with an unnamed European media group, having announced the deal last December.

The original deal was for GiG to provide the group with its igaming and data platform, to help power the undisclosed group’s igaming offering under its own licence.

The partnership was based on different fixed fees and a revenue share model, with a minimum contract term of three years.

The European group made wholesale changes in strategy and decided to alter its approach towards operating with its own licence; for this reason, the partnership was seen as no longer viable for either party.

In 2019, GiG decided to not support the white label model and with its potential partner altering its strategy, GiG decided to accept the termination of the agreement.

The termination will not impact GiG’s financial forecasts for 2020 or its long-term financial targets. It explained that the current onboarding of clients has remained strong and it continues to improve its depth in the sales pipeline.

Richard Brown, GiG CEO said: “The change in strategy has led to an impasse for us to move forward together. While unfortunate to terminate this agreement, we wish them well and we continue to move forward on a multitude of our own opportunities”

Despite this setback the group managed to reach agreements with Fast Track and Kaizen Gaming earlier this month.

GiG is also in the habit of signing deals with other companies without naming them, having done so with a German operator back in February.

Covid19 Accelerated Mobile & USSD transactions by 82.6% in Nigeria

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By Adeleye Awakan – E-play Africa

The coronavirus spread in Nigeria discourages physical banking and fiat money as an exchange in Nigeria. Mobile and USSD transactions in Nigeria surged by 82.6% to stand at 1.69 billion compared to 928.86 million recorded in the previous year.

According to the 2020 instant payment annual statistics, these are recently released by the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) in the country. The report also revealed that 78% of total instant payment carried out in Nigeria in 2020 was done using mobile devices. The breakdown of the data released while mobile payment retained its position as the most preferred channel accounting for 43% of the total transactions in 2020.

USSD followed closely at 762.19 million transactions accounting for 35% of the total recorded in the year. The growth is attributed to the move by the Nigerians away from physical channels—closure of most bank branches in the country during the heat of covid-19 pandemic surge. Also, the fear of using fiat currency for not contracting the virus and the timely advocacy to encourage Nigerians to transact through online channels rather than using fiat money for exchange is part of what propels the mobile and USSD transactions in 2020. In terms of year-on-year performance, the volume of mobile transactions grew from 506.16 million in 2019 to 933.66 million in 2020, indicating a surge of about 84.5 per cent YoY. Also, the importance of USSD transactions grew from 422.7 million to 762.19 million, advancing about 80.3 per cent YoY.

The report stated that with approximately 49.5percent smartphone ownership in the country and 97 million mobile internet users, there is a strong indication that mobile and USSD payments will see significant growth in the short-medium term. It also shows between the ages of 25-34 years carried out 36 per cent of all instant interbank payments in 2020. In essence, this indicates that the younger demographic boosted the adoption of instant payment in the review period. Also, 79 per cent of the instant payment transaction in the review year was carried out in the review year by customers between the ages of 15-44 years.

The report’s detail also shows that Lagos State, the commercial nerve maintained the hub for electronic payments accounting for 30 per cent of the total transactions initiated in the country. Others on the list of highest transaction volumes include Abuja (7%), Ogun (6%), Rivers (6%), and Oyo state (5%). And the report also sees 1.37 billion transactions initiated in the year were carried by males representing 72% of the total, while 52.04 million or 28% were females. However, E-Play Africa had reported earlier in March 2021 that the Nigerian apex bank introduced a new high fee for USSD banking transactions that angered customers.

Many criticize this move that it will further discourage the low-income people and negatively impact businesses and the financial inclusion goal to promote a cashless economy. It is interesting to discover the young population embraced mobile and USSD as a means of payment in Nigeria. The significant part is given the influx of mobile phones. They can tout the widespread acceptance of sports betting to have accelerated iGaming betting and gambling during the Covid-19 lockdown.

It is fair enough to assume that mobile and USSD payment growth can be said the iGaming industry contributed a huge chunk of the transaction, given it is the widely accepted form of payment in the country.

Malawi Calls for Casino, and Sports betting License Applications

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The Malawi Gambling Board has called applications for a Casino Licence in Malawi, as well as a (Wide Area Progressive) licence in Malawi. At the same time the Malawi National Lotteries Board has called for applications for Sportsbetting licences to fall under the National Lotteries Act.

 The RFP DETAILS ARE LISTED BELOW FOR EACH CATEGORY:

MALAWI GAMING BOARD 

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR A CASINO LICENCE IN MALAWI 

The Malawi Gaming Board (MGB) is inviting proposals for Licences for Casino development in all locations within Malawi. The call for applications is made in accordance with the provisions of the Gaming Act, 1996 (Act No. 26 of 1996), as amended.

All procedural requirements are stipulated in a Request for Proposal (RFP) document that has been released by the Malawi Gaming Board (MGB). The Request for proposals (RFP) has been issued to provide the relevant guidance to potential bidders and also contains the evaluation criteria that will be applied by the MGB to award the Casino Licence.

The aforesaid RFP can be obtained from the offices of the MGB upon a cash payment of MK 150,000 (One hundred and Fifty Thousand Kwacha) or upon a bank transfer to the MGB’s account.

For further and better particulars, please contact the MGB using the contact details provided below:

The Chief Executive Officer 

Malawi Gaming Board 

Independence drive opposite Namiwawa Primary School 

P. O Box 3062 

BLANTYRE, MALAWI 

Tel: + (265) 1 821 522 

Fax: + (265) 1 821 531 

Email: mgb@gamingboard.org.mw 

 MALAWI GAMING BOARD 

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR A WIDE AREA PROGRESSIVE (WAP) LICENCE IN MALAWI 

The Malawi Gaming Board (MGB) is inviting proposals for Wide Area Progressive (WAP) Licences in Malawi. This is being done in accordance with the provisions of the Gaming Act, 1996 (Act No. 26 of 1996), as amended.

All procedural requirements are stipulated in a Request for Proposal (RFP) document that has been released by the Malawi Gaming Board (MGB). The RFP also contains the evaluation criteria that will be applied by the MGB to award the Licences.

The aforesaid RFP can be obtained from the offices of the MGB upon a cash payment of MK 150,000 (One hundred and Fifty Thousand Kwacha) or upon a bank transfer to the MGB’s account.

For further and better particulars, please contact the MGB using the contact details provided below:

The Chief Executive Officer 

Malawi Gaming Board 

Independence drive opposite Namiwawa Primary School 

P. O Box 3062 

BLANTYRE, MALAWI 

Tel: + (265) 1 821 522 

Fax: + (265) 1 821 531 

Email: mgb@gamingboard.org.mw 

NATIONAL LOTTERIES BOARD 

Invitation to Apply for Sports Betting Licences in Malawi 

The National Lotteries Board (NLB) is inviting proposals for Sports Betting licences in terms of the Lotteries Act (Act No. 9 of 2003). The licences shall be issued under Section 36(2) of the Lotteries Act.

All procedural requirements for submission of a proposal are explained in a Request for Proposal (RFP) document that shall be released by the NLB. The RFP also contains the evaluation criteria that shall be applied by the NLB to award the Sports betting Licence.

The aforesaid RFP can be obtained from the offices of the NLB upon a cash payment of One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Kwacha (K 150, 000) or upon a Bank transfer to the NLB’s account.

For further and better particulars, please contact the NLB using the contact details provided below:

The Chief Executive Officer 

Malawi Gaming Board 

Independence drive opposite Namiwawa Primary School 

P. O Box 3062 

BLANTYRE, MALAWI 

Tel: + (265) 1 821 522 

Fax: + (265) 1 821 531 

Email: mgb@gamingboard.org.mw