Mystery online gambling contract for Playtech

23.11.2007

Industry observers were speculating on the identity of a mystery Asian-facing online gambling licensee as the week closed, following a statement to the London stock exchange by industry software developer Playtech.

In the statement, Playtech revealed that it has signed up what it describes as a “significant” Asian-facing licensee – but could not release the identity of the mystery company due to “reasons of confidentiality”.

The statement did say that Playtech is to provide the unidentified operator with new Asian-focused peer-to-peer games, and claimed that the new licensee has a “strong and diversified presence in the Asia-Pacific region."

The contract is “material to the future profitability” of the firm and Playtech announced that it is “expected to become earnings enhancing during the second quarter of 2008”.

Playtech CEO Mor Weizer said: “This is a significant new business win for Playtech and comes after lengthy contract formalities with the licensee.” He added that the scale of the operator and its large client base would make it a “very valuable addition” to the Playtech stable.

“The additional tools and features that we have developed for this operator will further strengthen Playtech’s market-leading position in the vast Asia-Pacific market," Weizer said. "This licensee has deep-rooted experience and market reach and we foresee additional benefits for Playtech, particularly for our new Asia-facing games which we start rolling out over the next two quarters.”