In a fast-moving initiative today GuoLine Overseas Limited, a subsidiary of Hong Leong Company (Malaysia) Berhad, announced that it has sold 50 million ordinary shares (about 13 percent of its holding) in The Rank Group plc to institutional investors. The shares represent approximately 12.8 percent of Rank’s entire issued share capital, and leave Hong Leong …
NYX Gaming Group will distribute a full portfolio of Realistic Games titles via NYX OGS following a deal announced Wednesday. Realistic’s ReGaL games server has been integrated into NYX OGS distribution platform providing NYX customers such as Unibet, Mr Green, Leo Vegas and Betsson a wide range of new content. Andy Harris, commercial director for …
Apparently undeterred by being referred to the European Court of Justice by the European Commission for having non-compliant gambling laws, the Swedish government has indicated that its gambling reform laws are on the back burner until mid-2015. Advising that parliament is currently focused on budgetry debates, Public Administration Minister Ardalan Shekarabi said that gambling reform …
Swedish gaming group Cherry reported record turnover across all business areas during its fourth quarter but a net loss affected by a change of executive directorship and its lottery product Klubblo. Online gaming was a star performer delivering a 60 percent growth Key performance highlights for the 4th quarter ending December 31, 2014 include: Group …
Betfair Group plc subsidiary TVG has acquired the Stronach Group’s HRTV horse racing television network for an initial consideration of $25 million. Based on TVG’s handle a further consideration of up to $47.8 million over a seven-year period will be payable. Further terms of the deal will see TVG benefit from seven years of television …
The drama over the sale of Atlantic City’s bankrupt Revel building continued Tuesday, when bankruptcy court Judge Gloria Burns postponed a decision on whether to terminate a $95.4 million auction sale agreement with Florida developer Glenn Straub. Straub failed to meet an agreement deadline recently (see previous reports) and the owners of Revel sought to …
Unconfirmed reports from the business publication Fortune this week claim that one of the leaders in the daily fantasy sports sector, FanDuel, is considering a fresh round of financing through a sale of shares in order to raise at least $100 million. The new capital will be devoted to marketing and player acquisition to cement …
It’s been a tough 2014 for Finnish gambling operator RAY, which this week reported a 1.9 percent year-on-year drop in revenues to Euro 776 million due to “challenging” local market conditions. The decline impacted all of the company’s products, with the key retail activity particularly hard-hit, revenues falling 2.1 percent to Euro 581 million. The …
GTech has announced the appointment as head of American operations of Michael Chambrello, a former GTech executive who has more recently worked as CEO for Scientific Games. For Chambrello it is a return to the fold; he was a senior GTech executive for seventreen years before joining Scientific Games in 1998. GTech group CEO Mike …
The American Gaming Association, trade body for the nation’s land gambling operators, is gearing up for a PR campaign designed to coincide with the 2016 presidential elections and ensure that candidates fully understand the importance of gambling to the US economy. Unveiling its “Gaming Votes” campaign this week, the Association claimed that the industry has …
Play’n Go’s latest slot, Pimped, is due for launch on February 24 with a theme redolent with bling and spin. The new game is a 5-reel video slot with 10 pay-lines and feaures that include a stacked wild symbol (the wild knuckleduster) and a scatter symbol (the golden dollar sign). The wild symbol substitutes for …
The online gambling banning struggle between lobbyists funded generously by land casino baron Sheldon Adelson and the allegedly less well-coordinated persuaders who oppose such a ban has attracted critiques from experts in the field. The consensus appears to be that whilst the Adelson opponents have sound arguments, the lack of cohesion and the lack of …
One of the founders of the Party Gaming online gambling empire, Russel DeLeon, was in the headlines this week after withdrawing his financial support for an environmental action against the Chevron oil company. Bloomberg news service reports that DeLeon has accused the lead plaintiff’s lawyer in the pollution case – now entering its third decade …
The Dutch police have carried out a series of raids following the arrest of five men accused of running an illegal sports betting enterprise and money laundering. The arrests evolved from an original six-country investigation into match-fixing in football, sources told the AFP news agency. Those arrested included two men from The Hague aged 58 …
The Macau taxman felt the pain of the drop in gambling business on the island during January, reporting that tax revenues declined 27.5 percent. The Financial Services Bureau reported total tax revenue of MOP10.50 billion ($1.3 billion), around $475 million less than during the same period the year before. Direct taxes from gaming brought in …
The news earlier this week of a more reasonable approach by tribal groups and Caesars Entertainment to bad actor clauses in online gambling legalisation initiatives (see previous reports) has been followed by encouraging reports that major online gambling firm Pokerstars and Caesars have put aside their traditional rivalry and will work together to fight attempts …
iGaming firm Nio Inc. has entered into a share exchange agreement with Guts.com parent company Gaming Innovation Group (GiG). The agreement will see the exchange of the entire issued share capital of Gaming Innovation Group Ltd. for shares in Nio Inc. which will lead to GiG becoming a Nio Inc. subsidiary should shareholder and regulatory …
Realistic Games debuted “Colour of Money” this week across mobile, tablet and web channels. The three-reel game is a classic arcade-style offer featuring a top award of 300 X total stake, up to 3 nudges, Super Spins, and the opportunity win one of 3 Win Series features. Realistic Games will roll-out an additional two slot …
Australian operator Tabcorp has urged a ban on wagering operators utilising tax havens such as Vanuatu in a submission made to an Australian corporate tax enquiry. The submission follows a 90-page report titled “Who Pays For Our Common Wealth?” released in September 2014 that detailed many top ASX200 companies with subsidiaries in tax havens paying …
Software and services provider Playtech has announced the acquisition of UK-based Yoyo Games Limited (Yoyo) for US$16.4 million. The acquisition forms part of Playtech’s strategy to penetrate the casual gaming sector, which already includes Plamee, an internal games development team which was founded in early 2014 and employs more than 120 developers. Headquartered in Dundee, …
William Hill’s acquisition talks with 888 Holdings have fallen flat due to a difference in opinion on the value of the company with one of its key stakeholders. The acquisition talks revolved around a possible 200 pence per share plus a 3 pence dividend per share, however, as The Times reported one of 888’s Israeli …
The major Greek gambling group OPAP is progressing well with the creation of its “Play” network of gaming halls, which will focus on the availability of Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) across a wide range of “mini casino” gaming halls across Greece, reports the daily newspaper Ekathimerini. Sources told the publication that around 4,000 buildings have …
One of the longest-established Bitcoin online casinos, SealsWithClubs, appears to be having a tough time which it has attributed to hardware issues, experiencing several offline outages in recent weeks. In the latest, the facilities have been down for the past four days as management struggles with the problem and – to its credit – communicates …
Interactive gaming company Sega Sammy Holdings, which has dabbled in the online gambling sector (see previous reports) has unveiled a restructuring plan that will result in the loss of at least 300 jobs – where possible through natural attrition – in Japan this year. The announcement came in the shape of a stock exchange filing …