SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has onboarded its latest European partner, commencing its supplier arrangement with Palasino Malta, part of Trans World Hotels & Entertainment (TWHE).
The five-year agreement follows up from a head of terms arrangement signed between the duo on 24 January, and will focus on supporting TWHE’s entry into online betting and gaming.
TWHE is targeting growth into the online sector via the Palsino.com holding, having built up a ‘traditional retail business’, eyeing up a presence in international markets, both emerging and established.
Marcel Elfersy, CCO of GiG, said: “We’re really pleased to have the ink dry on this deal with Palasino, seeing a wealth of opportunity in the partnership for both businesses to expand into.”
To support THWE’s online ambitions, GiG will provide the firm with its player account management platform (PAM), front-end delivery and content management system (CMS).
Based in London but also operating a Malta HQ, GiG begins business with its latest client after an active Q1 which has seen the firm partner with JOY Enterprise BV in a Latin America-focused deal.
In other developments, the company expanded the scope of its agreement with News Corp to include the Irish market, but perhaps most significantly is evaluating a ‘strategic split’ following revenue growth year-on-year by 44% from €18.1 to €26m in Q4.
“We’re continuing to see growth in the online gaming space across the industry, with the brand equity of experienced retail brands gelled with specialised third party technology such as ours, positioned well to establish a strong foothold in global markets,” Elfeersy continued.
TWHE, meanwhile, is eyeing up online expansion after operating in retail casino gaming for 25 years, holding premises in Germany, Australia and the Czech Republic.
The firm has set its sights on ‘elevating its status as a premier brand in the European gaming and hospitality markets’, following its acquisition by Hong Kong-based Far East Consortium (FEC) in 2018.
Colin Chapman Stewart, Director of Gaming at FEC, commented: “Partnering with GiG provides TWHE, Palasino and our shareholders with the confidence and ability to launch our online division operating out of Malta with an MGA license.
“Bringing our brand online to new international players who can experience the same feeling in the casinos we have successfully operated for the past quarter century, is an exciting time for us all here at Palasino.”
In a separate update to its NASDAQ and OSE investors, GiG revealed that its North American General Manager, Ben Clemes, exercised 21,000 options to buy shares in the firm, with 15,000 sold at NOK 15 (€1.3) and 6,000 at NOK 22 (€1.9).
Clemes will now hold 1,728,146 shares and 39,000 options to buy shares, whilst on a wider scale, GiG employees have exercised options to buy 4,650 shares in the firm for NOK 22.
