The governance of FTSE100 gambling group GVC Holdings has issued a statement on the press coverage related to the firm’s 2017 sale of its ‘Headlong limited’ Turkish business unit. This weekend, The Sunday Times reported that GVC Holdings faced ‘fresh questions over its corporate governance’, disclosing that Group CEO Kenneth Alexander had sanctioned the sale of Headlong to business associate …
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The Athens Securities & Exchange Commission has this morning moved to temporarily suspend the listing of OPAP SA, in light of speculation of a ‘major imminent corporate event’. Greek business news sources this morning report that Czech gambling conglomerate SAZKA Group seeks to significantly expand its holdings in OPAP, the former state-owned enterprise and Greece’s largest lottery and sports betting …
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Industry player protection, safety and standards agency eCOGRA has advanced its South American profile, confirming that it has been approved as an ‘independent testing authority’ by Colombian and Argentine regulators. Updating the market, Colombian regulator Coljuegos has certified eCOGRA as an ‘independent testing platform’, which will be allowed to service player safety provisions for Colombia’s fast-growth regulated online gambling marketplace. In …
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Industry strategic consultancy Regulus Partners reviews a week of conflict and consequences for UK betting incumbents adjusting to new FOBTs and social responsibility realities. _______________________ Last week saw optically conflicting news coming from the GB LBO sector as to the impact of the B2 ban (primarily) on likely shop closures. First, William Hill guided that around 700 shops (30% of …
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Veikkaus, Finland’s state-owned gambling operator has detailed the successful completion of the initial phase of its ongoing ‘transformation programme’. At the start of 2019, Veikkaus governance announced that it would undertake ‘significant operational restructure’ of its ‘restaurant gambling division’, having identified a number of ‘cost reduction areas’. Competing against a ‘trend of fierce online gambling competition’, Olli Saarikoski, President and …
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On Sunday night, the governance of the Norwegian Chess Federation Congress (NSF) voted against the ‘cooperation deal’ proposed by Kindred Group Plc flagship subsidiary Unibet. This June, Unibet marketing had propositioned a five-year principal sponsorship deal of the NSF, valued at NOK 50 million (€5m), representing Norwegian Chess’ biggest ever sponsorship. Lottstift, Norway’s national gambling regulator, would warn NSF governance ‘to …
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This May was a breakthrough month for the Italian betting sector as a reported GGR of €134 million (+45% on 2018 figures) was generated by its betting incumbents. Driven by strong football betting on Serie A’s closing schedule, and the UEFA Champions League Final, a total turnover of €1 billion was reported across retail and online betting verticals. Some good …
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World governing body for professional basketball FIBA has extended and its legacy partnership with Genius Sports, covering multiple data and technology disciplines. Expanding a partnership that has existed since 2004, FIBA and Genius Sports will continue to work closely together improving professional basketball’s data and digital infrastructures, providing support to over ‘200 leagues and federations worldwide’. New partnership directives, see …
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Seeking to bolster the information and data gathering capacities of its ‘National Gambling Treatment Services’, industry charity GambleAware has formed a new strategic partnership with ViewItUk Ltd. A specialist in data gathering, insights and visualisation for health networks, GambleAware has sanctioned ViewItUk to lead collating, handling and analysing of data, on individuals who seek or are referred to treatment via …
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The French government has accelerated its plans to privatise state-owned lottery and sports betting operator Francaise des Jeux (FDJ), appointing a collective of eight investment banks to work on the sale of the asset. This week, the APE, the agency overseeing the management French state-owned firms, confirmed that BNP Paribas would be joined by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Credit Agricole, HSBC, …
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