GiG will acquire 75% of Top Games with the remaining 25% retained by the local partner who has a successful history in land-based casino businesses. The payment for this acquisition is solely based on a contribution of resources by the shareholders with no cash being paid, the press statement says. The local partner will upfront the initial costs, whereas GiG will provide rights of use of the brand, a gambling platform and operational expertise.

GiG says the agreement is based on a collaborative partnership model, expanding GiG’s business-to-customer [B2C] online gaming offering in a growing regulated market. Both parties will cooperate in the ongoing operation of the business.

GiG expects a moderate impact on its revenues deriving from this agreement from H2 2020 with an accelerated increase in revenue contribution from H1 2021.

“I’m excited to further expand our B2C business by entering another regulated jurisdiction. Croatia is a very interesting marketplace for gambling and supports our strategy to grow our own brands in high potential and regulated markets,” said Richard Brown, acting CEO of GiG.

“GiG has a track record of creating responsible gaming experiences with a captivating UX. This is a good opportunity to showcase the strength of our online casino offering and our passion for providing end-users with a safe, responsible and competitive online gambling experience,” the acting CEO added.

Croatia has a population of approximately 4.1 million and is a regulated market, currently with six licensed online casinos. Croatia supports the locally regulated online operators by IP blocking both offshore and other non-regulated operators. The total gambling gross win in Croatia has an estimated total value of approximately €360 million in 2020, according to H2 Gambling Capital estimates. Online gambling in Croatia is subject to a gambling duty of 15%.

The post GiG to enter Croatian market in H1 2020 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“Robin has played a crucial part in building a unique one-stop global technology provider and we all owe him our sincere gratitude for this,” says Petter Nylander, Chairman of the Board of GiG. Mr Nylander explains the unexpected board decision by saying that new challenges require new leadership at the group.

“The company now enters into the next phase of its development with different challenges and opportunities and the board has reached the conclusion that GiG therefore also needs a different leadership. We have a skilled management team in place, I and the Board have full confidence in the Chief Operating Officer, Richard Brown who will be Acting CEO of GiG from today,” says Mr Nylander.

Furthermore, Board Chairman Nylander is increasing his engagement with immediate effect to take a more active role in GiG in order to support both the succession process and the management team, strategically as well as operationally, the press statement says.

“The strategy of GiG remains unchanged; to be the global operator and partner for strong brands in iGaming, with a sweetspot in taking an offline casino brand to a strong online offering, as we have with SkyCity and Hard Rock,” Mr Nylander continues.

“We are focusing on securing potential contracts within the B2B Platform services and on servicing our many customers with fully managed and component solutions. We will continue the development of the Media services and the sportsbook, not least to leverage GiG’s opportunities in the US. We will also continue driving the B2C Gaming operators with a focus on growth in new markets,” the board chairman concludes.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Business Malta has reached out to Mr Reed for a comment, to see his point of view. We have also reached out to Mr Nylander to see why Mr Reed is leaving so abruptly with no transitionary period. The present story will be updated as soon as we receive answers from any of the mentioned parties.

The post Board replaces GiG CEO with immediate effect first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Ellmount Gaming will become a B2B customer of GiG and carry on with operating Highroller using GiG’s platform services, front-end solution and managed services. Nevertheless, Highroller will initially remain as an operator under GiG’s licences with a long-term white label agreement and is planned to be migrated to Ellmount Gaming after its related licences have received regulatory approval.

GiG expects a positive contribution from Highroller under the new owner. Launched in December 2017, Highroller has been a proprietary brand of GiG. In the first six months of 2019, Highroller had revenues of €1.4 million with an EBITDA of -€0.2 million.

Divesting the brand, GiG says, is part of its strategy to increase brand equity for Rizk.Com in the casino category in select markets, in order to improve earnings quality and margins, through increased customer engagement and loyalty, the press statement says. Following the divestment, GiG will operate with four brands: Rizk, Guts, Kaboo and Thrills.

GiG notes that the Rizk brand is the best-performing one, representing 71% of total B2C revenues with a year-on-year growth of 34% (Q1 2019). The second-largest brand is Guts, which will be further developed as sports betting brand, GiG adds.

“The sale of Highroller is a confirmation of our discipline and focus as we are growing Rizk.Com to become a Tier 1 casino operator in select markets. Through this agreement, we gain increased cash flow, a strong B2B partner and Highroller will get the marketing muscle and focus it deserves,” GiG CEO Robin Reed says.

“The brand was launched only two years ago and with this sale, it has returned three-digit ROI for GiG. I am looking forward to seeing the brand prosper in the hands of very capable owners, empowered by our full suite of products and services,” the CEO adds.

The post GiG to sell B2C brand Highroller for €7m first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

A warning and a penalty were sanctioned to the company for displaying a U17 game between Georgia and Slovakia on 28 January on its Swedish site. The authority says that the event was event incorrectly offered online and no bets were taken from end users based in Sweden.

Nevertheless, GiG intends to appeal the sanction, as the company says it does not agree with SGA’s assessment and conclusion as the presentation of an event cannot be considered the same as accepting bets on U18 games for the purposes of both determining the infringement and the quantum, as the press release says.

In addition, GiG says it has taken the necessary measures to ensure that all games presented on the sites are in line with SGA’s requirements and interpretation in order to end users in Sweden.

Sweden implemented gambling regulation from 1 January 2019, a development which GiG welcomes as the regulation promotes fair and safe play and offers better protection for the end users. GiG has also prioritised investments in building systems to adhere to the requirements of the Swedish gambling laws.

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GiG expects to enter the Spanish market under these licences with its flagship brand Rizk. Simultaneously, GiG is also certifying its proprietary gaming platform and sportsbook, to sell to external licensed operators. GiG expects to take the first bets in Q4 and to scale up operations in Q1 2020, the press statement adds.

“We are delighted to be awarded the Spanish licences and are looking forward to serving the market with our top performing operator Rizk and our full suite of B2C and B2B products and solutions. The approximately €1bn market is the strongest growing market in Europe, at a rate of approximately 20%* per year, yet only 12% of the gambling is happening online, compared to more than 50% in mature digital markets in Europe, this represents a great opportunity for GiG,” said Robin Reed, CEO of GiG.

The launch into Spain follows GiG’s strategy of becoming a global operator and partner for strong brands in iGaming. GiG says it has aspirations to become a leader in a few select markets with its B2C brands, while expanding globally through B2B partnerships.

Spain regulated online gambling on a national level in 2011, the offline to online transition is further driving growth. Total Gross Gaming Revenue in Spain in 2018 was approximately $10bn, of which online gambling was 12%. Forecasts estimate the online gambling share in Spain to rise to more than 18% by 2024, the GiG press statement says.

The entry to the Spanish market also serves as a gateway to the Latin American markets, the establishment of our business in these markets is a key priority. GiG currently has licences and/or platform certifications in Malta, United Kingdom, the German State of Schleswig-Holstein, Sweden, Latvia and Spain.

The Spanish government approved a five-per-cent cut in gross gaming revenue from 25% to 20%, which action has been raising high hopes for the global iGaming industry, attracting eyes to the country, according to reports.

LeoVegas submitted a licence application for casino and sports betting, eyeing to set foot in the Spanish market late last year. LeoVegas’ competitor Gaming Innovation Group Inc (GiG) also applied for an online B2C casino and sports betting licence in Spain earlier.

Today, LeoVegas has also been granted an online gaming licence in Spain and will shortly launch its Spanish site. The licence applies to both casino and sports games, according to a press release by the iGaming company.

The post GiG secures Spanish gaming licences first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“We are very pleased to have signed bet365, one of the leaders in the gambling industry, to GiG’s compliance screening tool and to support them in their marketing compliance,” said Richard Brown, Chief Operations Officer at GIG. “It’s great to know that we share the same aspirations for a safe and trusted environment. GiG Comply will support bet365 to keep compliance oversight and to be in control of affiliate activities, ensuring fair and fun iGaming for all,” the CEO added.

GiG Comply scans tens of thousands of web pages for content and links across multiple jurisdictions. Using this tool, bet365 can check for the presence or lack of notable terms, images and promotional links and whether age rated games or code red words are present next to a promotion.

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The mother company says it identified failures relating to requirements around key event notifications. Betit will pay £1.4m (€1.6m) and MT SecureTrade £700,000 (€800,000+) to responsible gambling charities pursuant to negotiated regulatory settlements, the press release says. The assessments were carried out in 2017 and 2018.

“Each company acknowledged previous weaknesses in its controls to meet social responsibility requirements early in the Gambling Commission process and immediately took steps to address the gaps in its procedures,” said Robin Reed, CEO of GiG. The CEO also praised the transparency of the process and cooperation with the UK watchdog.

“Commencing from the end of 2017, GiG has embarked on an ambitious journey to place player well-being, prevention of money laundering and sustainable business practices at the core of its operators,” Mr Reed added.

“In the last two years, we have invested heavily in automated technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) enabling early prevention, monitoring and other reporting tools. We have also invested in people, building our compliance and player safety teams and ensuring that the necessary tools are available to them to assist in their duties of reducing the risk of business being used to further financial crime and detecting and interacting with players who may be vulnerable or at risk of problem gambling,” Mr Reed said.

The CEO ensured commitment to forming a “safe environment” for players and to “reduce gambling-related harm”. GiG says it envisages an iGaming market that is “fair and fun for all”.

Gaming Innovation Group Inc has operations in Malta and is dual-listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GIG and on Nasdaq Stockholm under the ticker symbol GIGSEK.

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Kindred expects to strenghthen affiliate compliance processes through this partnership. Kindred will deploy the GiG Comply self-service monitoring solution to track affiliate activity and content for its brands. GiG Comply also offers monitoring over promotional content including text, image and banner promotions, the press release says.

Kindred hopes to benefit from the GiG Comply software, adding that it can protect its brands online in a constantly changing environment, helping them to remain compliant.

“I am looking forward to working with the GiG Comply product to strengthen our existing compliance processes and ensure our Affiliate activity is compliant and sustainable,” said Ryan Henderson, Head of Affiliates at Kindred Group

“We are delighted to have partnered with Kindred Group to support them to protect their brands and end users. Kindred is one of the leaders in gambling compliance and we share the same ambition for a safe and trusted gambling environment,” said Richard Brown, chief operations officer at GiG. “Our leading marketing and compliance technology will allow the Kindred Affiliates team to monitor and control affiliate mentions, alongside their existing processes,” he added.

The post Kindred to deploy GiG’s compliance solution first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“GiG is delighted to announce that Nasdaq Stockholm has approved our company for listing with the first day of trading tomorrow,” says Robin Reed, CEO of GiG.

“Stockholm is the hub and centre of excellence for the iGaming industry; this will put the company closer to its peer group with increased visibility in the market. We have many shareholders in Sweden and look forward to welcoming existing and new shareholders to join us on Nasdaq Stockholm,” the CEO adds.

GiG inks partnership with ABG

GiG and ABG Sundal Collier ASA (ABG) have, in connection to this listing, signed a market making agreement, commencing on the first day of trading and effective for an indefinite period until terminated by either party.

According to the agreement, ABG will provide GiG shares on Nasdaq Stockholm with a maximum spread between the bid and offer price of 4%, with calculation based on the bid quotation.

On each trading day, ABG undertakes to submit bids and offers in the GiG share into the trading system of Nasdaq Stockholm for a minimum of 85% of trading hours, inclusive of the auction procedures applicable to the shares, according to the press statement.

The GiG share will from this date be dual-listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and Oslo Børs with the same ISIN code: US36467X2062.

GiG has been listed on Oslo Børs (the Oslo Stock Exchange) since 2005.

The post GiG confirms Nasdaq Stockholm listing first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

According to a Nasdaq Stockholm assessment, GiG fulfils the listing requirements, subject to customary conditions and formal approval from Nasdaq Stockholm, according to the group’s press statement. No new shares will be issued in connection with the listing.

GiG is currently listed on Oslo Børs, and following completion of the listing on Nasdaq Stockholm, the GiG share will be dual-listed and traded on both exchanges until further notice, carrying the same ISIN code on both exchanges: US36467X2062. The ticker code for the GiG share on Oslo Børs remains: “GIG”, the ticker code for the GiG share traded on Nasdaq Stockholm will be “GIGSEK”, the company’s press statement says.

“GiG is delighted to announce our intention to list on Nasdaq Stockholm, and that Nasdaq Stockholm has assessed that our company fulfils the listing requirements. Stockholm is the hub and centre of excellence for the iGaming industry, and this will put the company closer to its peer group with increased visibility in the market. We have many shareholders in Sweden and look forward to welcoming existing and new shareholders to join us on Nasdaq Stockholm,” says Robin Reed, CEO of GiG.

GiG is a technology company providing products and services for the iGaming industry. Founded in 2012, today the group connects operators, suppliers and users, to create the best iGaming experiences in the world. GiG has operations in Malta and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

The post GiG eyes to list shares on Nasdaq Stockholm first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.