Month: August 2021

Rhodes, who was appointed to the position back in June following Neil McArthur’s departure, said he had received a number of messages regarding the operator and took to Twitter to address people’s concerns directly.

It had been hoped that a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) would be a feasible way to reimburse customers who lost their money. However, Rhodes said that the Gambling Commission could not help determine if this option remained likely as it was strictly an administration matter rather than one related to the regulator.

Rhodes said: “A CVA may or may not happen – it is not something the GC is involved with and would not be. It’s between the administrators and any potential investor/buyer to set up a CVA. If a CVA does happen, then they will likely make an ‘offer’ for the debts the company has which would be your bets as well as any other debts.

Court documents had previously revealed that the operator’s plans for a CVA involved relaunching the platform, with creditors – including former customers who lost money – receiving equity in the new business.

“This does not mean you would get all your original stake back – it depends on what they offered. Then the CVA would need to apply for a licence to operate from us, which we would be obliged to consider,” he said.

Rhodes also refuted claims that he said he didn’t know how much peoples bets were worth, saying that this was for the administrators to decide: “They need to be valued by the administrators. There are several ways of valuing the debt and whilst many feel this should be the original stake, there are several ways of looking at it.

“Realistically, this will be part of attempting a CVA and if there is no ultimate rescue for the company the debt would need to be valued as part of winding a company up.”

Rhodes declined to comment on the roles of individuals during the investigation, as proceedings are still ongoing. He said he was also unable to provide an answer for when findings from the Football Index inquiry would be published, as it is not being conducted by the Gambling Commission but by DCMS.

Many disgruntled customers demanded that the Commission should be responsible for covering losses made as they were regulating the platform. Rhodes responded saying: “Being regulated does not prevent a company going into administration and unlike some other sectors, there is no insurance or compensation scheme to cover gambling companies that go into administration and then liquidation.

“Funds protection needs to be made clear by the operator but this will vary between companies and aside from funds held separately, often the cash balances, this does not protect against a company going into administration. Administration for operators is not common – there have been four in recent years, though orderly wind-up is a bit more common.”

Rhodes also suggested that there were certain details of actions taken that the Commission could not reveal. After BetIndex collapsed, the regulator revealed that the business had been under review for almost a year but said there was no grounds to suspend its licence at this time. It argued that the move could have worsened the business’ financial struggles, and therefore put more customer funds at risk.

“Many have assumed the GC ‘did nothing’ and you are entitled to your view,” he said. “What I would ask you to have in mind is that we currently cannot say very much at all about these matters because of ongoing investigations and reviews.”

The “football stock market” platform collapsed in March following its operator BetIndex going into administration.

The case was subsequently handed to administrators before being raised to the High Court, where it would be decided how £4.5m of customer money – including only funds held in accounts and not money spent on active bets – would be repaid.

Ultimately, the court determined a cut-off date for account balances, allowing for the repayment of up to £3.5m.
However, a CVA or liquidation of the business is likely to be required in order for customers to see any of the funds spent on bets that were active when Football Index collapsed.

Walsh will exit the role on 20 August but remain with the business until 9 December, in line with the terms of his contract with the group.

Walsh joined Crown in 2008 as the chief operating officer of Cannery Casino Resorts, which operated in Nevada and Pennsylvania in the US before returning to Australia in 2013 to take on the same role with Crown Melbourne. 

He moved into the position of chief executive in December last year.

Crown said that it intends to announce an interim appointment to replace Walsh following consultation with the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation.

Last month, an inquiry into Crown heard that Xavier Walsh and group executive chairman Helen Coonan “cannot be the credible face of change at Crown if it is to remain the licensee”, as they had held senior positions during the period when failings occurred.

Adrian Finanzio, the counsel assisting the commission into the operator and licence, presented his arguments against Crown’s suitability as a licensee. He said that the Bergin Inquiry into Crown’s suitability to hold a licence in New South Wales revealed major flaws, and that – based on the evidence submitted to the Commission in Victoria – the operator remains an unsuitable licensee.

The announcement comes after Crown last week reopened its Crown Melbourne site after the Victorian government lifted novel coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown restrictions in the state.

Crown Melbourne was forced to halt all gaming activities on 16 July when the state’s government announced a short lockdown in response to an increase in Covid-19 cases in Victoria.

Also last week, Crown Resorts paid AUD$61.0m (£32.5m/€38.0m/US$45.1m) to Victoria in response to an investigation into an underpayment of casino tax dating back to 2012.

The Victorian Royal Commission, which is conducting the investigation into Crown and its activities in the state, ruled Crown should make two payments to cover the underpayment of tax and related interest charges.

The Commission said a payment of $37m should be made to the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation, representing an underpayment of casino tax by Crown Melbourne in the period from the 2012 financial year to the present day.

This tax was in relation to Crown’s incorrect deduction of certain bonus rewards provided to players in connection with play on Crown Melbourne’s electronic gaming machines.

The Commission also said a further payment of $24m must be made to the state of Victoria as penalty interest on the underpayment of casino tax during the period in question.

The deal will see PagoEfectivo staff, including chief executive Juan Fernando Villena, join the Paysafe team.

The sale is expected to be completed by the end of August, subject to closing conditions being met. The two companies will continue to operate independently until the deal becomes official.

Paysafe CEO Philip McHugh said: “This acquisition reinforces our strategy of investing in, and growing our core, specialized offering in payments processing, digital wallets, eCash and online banking solutions and gives us an important, strategic foothold in Latin America; a region which is expanding fast in eCommerce in general and specifically in the specialized vertical industries such as iGaming, travel, entertainment and digital goods which are very much our sweet spot. 

“Our cloud-based technology stack and global enterprise relationships will only help accelerate PagoEfectivo’s very strong growth. We very much look forward to welcoming the PagoEfectivo team onboard.”

The PagoEfectivo deal represents the latest step in Paysafe’s expansion. The company finalised its SPAC merger with Foley Trasimene earlier this year, allowing it to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. In addition, Paysafe also recently partnered with WynnBet for both payments and affiliate services through its Income Access subsidiary.

Mariano Nejamkis, general manager of press and digital businesses for PagoEfectivo’s holding company Grupo El Comercio, added: “The sale of PagoEfectivo has generated high levels of interest because of PagoEfectivo’s excellent performance over recent years as well as its future growth potential. 

“This performance is the result of the continuous growth of eCommerce in this region as well as our Group’s ability to create compelling new digital brands and products. On behalf of the entire Grupo El Comercio team, we wish the team all the very best for the future; I believe this sale will be a success story for all concerned.”

The app, which uses the Liberty platform acquired in the William Hill deal, is already live in eight states: Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Caesars said it also plans to launch the app in Arizona, Maryland, and Louisiana when these markets go live.

“Caesars Sportsbook puts the bettor at the centre of everything,” Eric Hession, co-president of Caesars Digital, said. “We understand that we need to be nimble, we need to give bettors what they want in terms of depth of odds and breadth of sports, and we need to make our app easy and fun to navigate. 

“But beyond that, we want to treat every Caesars Sportsbook player like a Caesar. And that means generous offers and a way to earn through Caesars Rewards.”

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The two brands operate the Speedy Casino, Speedybet and Speedyspel sites in Sweden.

Following the deal, Paf will implement its universal loss limit of €20,000 (£17,088/$23,757/SEK203,679) per year on the newly acquired sites. The branding of the sites will remain the same, however.

“We do not have an interest in taking over the gaming sites unless their customers are largely at a gaming level that we accept. Customers will notice that we value responsible gaming very strongly, and expect any acquisitions to have the same level of responsible gaming that we have on Paf’s other gaming sites,” Paf chief executive Christer Fahlstedt said.

The deal will make Paf one of the six largest operators in Sweden, a milestone that Paf said it had “deliberately” targeted.

“We want to grow in Sweden and we have a determined ambition to be a leading player in the Swedish licensed market,” Fahlstedt said.

Hero Gaming, which was founded in 2013, also operates the Casino Heroes brand, as well as Boom Gaming, which launched in 2019.

In his new role, he will serve as chairperson of the nominating and governance committee and serve as a member of the audit committee.

D’Arrigo joins Gambling.com Group having most recently served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of MGM Resorts International between 2007 and 2019.

During his time with MGM, D’Arrigo was part of the team that created BetMGM, the joint venture between MGM Resorts and Entain.

“I am excited for the opportunity to join Gambling.com Group’s board of directors and work with the management team as the company continues its growth as a leader in performance marketing for online gambling,” D’Arrigo said.

D’Arrigo’s appointment became effective following the closing of the business’s initial public offering last week.

Gambling.com Group co-founder and chief executive Charles Gillespie added: “Dan has extensive experience as the CFO of a publicly traded S&P 500 casino and hospitality company which will be an enormous asset to the management team at Gambling.com Group, and he is a timely addition as we begin our journey as a publicly traded company in the US.”

Sisal currently holds 70% of shares in Mooney Group, but these will be transferred to a new holding company – SG2 S.p.A – which will be owned by CVC Capital Partners: the private equity business that owns Sisal.

The remaining B2C gambling business, which is currently controlled by Sisal S.p.A, will then be transferred to Sisal Group. At present, Sisal Group is the parent company of both Sisal S.p.A and Mooney Group.

The demerger is expected to be completed in November 2021, as Sisal seeks regulatory approvals for its completion.

The news comes as Sisal hopes to win the fourth UK National Lottery Licence tender, throwing its hat in the ring late in the process in April. The operator has partnered with telecommunications giant BT on the bid, with the aim of using new technologies to widen the appeal of lottery games.

The British Gambling Commission launched the fourth licence tender in August 2020, with the aim of announcing a preferred applicant by September 2021.

Pan-European lottery and gaming giant Sazka Group was the first to announce its intention to compete for the licence in October 2020, while Sugal & Damani, India’s largest lottery operator, joined the race later that month.Incumbent licensee Camelot completed the Selection Questionnaire in October, but did not ever publicly confirm whether it was bidding for the tender.

Revenue for the six-month period amounted to €56.8m (£48.6m/$67.6m), down from €62.3m in the previous year.

In February this year, Bet-at-home began operating under its new German sports betting licence, implementing its own platform in the country. However, new legal requirements included with the licence led to a negative impact on customer activity in H1.

Under the State Treaty, customers will be limited to a monthly betting limit of €1,000, though a small number of customers may have their limits increased to €10,000 or €30,000.

In addition, deposits will be limited until players pass certain verification checks, while licensees will also have to integrate with the national self-exclusion system OASIS and betting markets must be approved by the Regional Council. 

In-play betting, meanwhile, is limited  to markets on the final result or next scorer, something that has been criticised by bodies such as operator association the Deutscher Sportwettenverband.

According to bet-at-home, these changes led to a lower-than-expected performance during the Uefa European Football Championship that began towards the end of H1.

In addition, bet-at-home said the online gaming segment in Germany developed below its expectations due to a ban on popular games such as roulette and blackjack. Like sports betting, the online casino games that are permitted – slots and poker – face a number of strict restrictions.

Operators face a 5.3% tax on turnover, a €1,000 per month spending cap and a €1 per spin stake cap on slot games.

“Although long-term legal certainty was gained in the core market of Germany as a result of the licensing, the upcoming implementation of cross-product monthly betting limits for online sports betting and online gaming is likely to lead to further revenue losses in Germany in the coming months,” the operator said.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were also down 65.8% to €5.4m. The operator partially put this down to higher marketing expenses linked to Euro 2020, with spending up €3.1m on last year.

Bet-at-home also noted the impact of customer lawsuits in Austria amounting to €3.2m and the discontinuation of its Polish business effective from 1 June 2021 due to legal changes.

In Poland, authorities intercepted the operator’s services by blocking IP addresses and payment methods. In response, Bet-at-home took legal action and applied for a sports betting license in the country.

Group equity by the end of the half stood at €34.4m, down 32.4% from last year, while cash and cash equivalents and short-term time deposits within the group declined 26.4% to €41.8m.

Based on its performance in the half and factors that impacted its results during the period, the operator said gross betting and gaming revenue for the full year is expected to amount to between €100m and €110m, with EBITDA set to total between €8m and €10m – in line with forecasts published last month.

Shareholders were originally supposed to convene on 15 July to discuss an offer from Israeli investment business Barinboim Group – a deal which the Playtech board had already agreed to.

The meeting was delayed after a rival bid from Gopher Investments emerged, worth up to $250m. Gopher called for Playtech to delay its meeting and enter negotiations with the investment company, which led to the meeting being pushed back to 29 July.

The vote has now been pushed back to 18 August after Playtech said it had unsuccessfully attempted to gain clarity on the Gopher bid. Shareholders who have already submitted a proxy vote may contact Playtech’s registrar if they wish to change their vote.

Playtech expressed its concerns over Gopher’s ownership structure and whether this structure would create regulatory difficulties in completing the deal, particularly if Gopher’s ownership had connections to China.

A statement from Playtech said: “The proposal received from Gopher Investments is uncertain in terms of its deliverability, principally because it is not binding in nature and remains subject to a number of conditions.

“Under the restrictions in the sale and purchase agreement entered into with the Consortium on 26 May 2021… the Company is not entitled to directly engage with Gopher.”

However, Playtech and Gopher did enter into a dialogue over the past few weeks, delaying its general meeting to do so, with Playtech looking for further details on questions such as Gopher’s ownership, funding structure and potential regulatory approval of the deal.

While Gopher was initially co-operative during the process, Playtech said it is still waiting for answers to additional questions that it asked – leaving the supplier lacking the necessary clarity to proceed with negotiations.

As a result, the Playtech board’s support for the Barinboim deal remains unchanged.

Advisory body Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) had backed Gopher’s bid, arguing that shareholders should vote against Barinboim’s initial offer.

The arrangement between the two parties will see online sports betting offered in Michigan under the Gun Lake/Parx brand from today (August 2).

Gun Lake and Parx Interactive already operate online casino in the state, having secured approval from the MGCB in April this year.

“With Gun Lake Casino now fully authorized, 14 current Michigan operators and their platform providers may offer both internet casino gaming and online sports betting to patrons,” MGCB executive director Henry Williams said.

“The associated revenue payments will support responsible gaming, the First Responder Presumed Coverage Fund, K-12 education and economic development.”

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