Launches and sign-ups 04 July 2012
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (28 June to 04 July 2012).
Shuffle Master pulls out of Ongame deal
Land-based gaming supplier withdraws from 19.5m acquisition of poker network “ bwin.party to reopen talks with other interested parties.
The sale of bwin.party’s Ongame poker network to Shuffle Master has fallen through after the companies “mutually agreed” to cancel the deal, the London-listed business announced to the market this morning.
In a statement bwin.party reaffirmed its commitment to selling “surplus assets, including Ongame” and revealed that it is “re-engaging” with other companies which had previously shown an interest in acquiring the network.
A spokesman for bwin.party told eGaming Review this morning: “This doesn’t cause us concern, and we are confident that we can conclude a deal with an alternative third party.”
The reasons for Shuffle Master’s withdrawal from the deal are not yet fully clear, but eGR understands that it relates to the company’s concerns about the current economic situation in Europe and entering various markets when it has previously been almost exclusively US-focused.
Playtech begins trading on London’s Main Market
Playtech has begun trading on London’s main market this morning with early trading seeing its market cap exceed £1bn.
The stock opened at 333p, and at the time of writing has risen to 350p, with Playtech CEO Mor Weizer calling the move “an exciting day for Playtech”. Trading on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) has been cancelled as a result of the switch.
“The company has experienced exceptional growth since the company’s foundation in 1999 and today marks a significant milestone in Playtech’s continued development,” he added.
888 announces WMS partnership
888 has announced its second major partnership in the United States, signing a deal with WMS Gaming which will see the solutions provider offer 888’s online poker product to land-based casinos in the market.
The product will initially only be available as a free-play solution, but will allow casinos to launch real-money poker once federal or intrastate regulation is passed, and licences have been secured.
Commenting on the deal 888 CEO Brian Mattingley (pictured) said: “WMS is one of the main gaming suppliers in America, with a network of relationships with land-based operators that is second to none. The combination of 888’s cutting edge online poker platform and WMS’ customer relationships, marketing and distribution capabilities, provides the opportunity to build a substantial online presence.
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
Bally confirms Golden Nugget launch
US land-based casino operator Golden Nugget has gone live with a freeplay poker site, launched in partnership Bally Technologies on the supplier’s iGaming Platform.
The casino group, which last year acquired the Trump Marina in New Jersey to go along with its other properties in Nevada, is the first to go live on the platform, which Bally acquired from Chiligaming in February this year.
Shuffle Master explains Ongame deal collapse
Shuffle Master chief executive Gavin Isaacs has blamed the uncertain economic climate in Europe, coupled with the slow progress of US regulation, for the collapse of the US supplier’s deal to acquire the bwin.party-owned Ongame Poker Network.
In a statement released this afternoon Isaacs (pictured) said that the worsening state of the economies in a number of European countries, the prospect of a higher outlay than the original acquisition cost of 19.5m “ potentially rising a further 10m should US regulation pass within a five-year period “ to ensure the business’ profitability contributed to the decision to pull out of the deal.
Ultimate Poker launches UFC poker tournament
Fertitta Interactive’s gaming arm Ultimate Gaming is poised to launch its ‘Belt the Champ’ tournament, giving players the opportunity to win VIP tickets to an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event in September.
It is a free-to-play tournament accessible through Ultimate Gaming’s Facebook app, launched by Fertitta Interactive last month after several months of preparation since the company’s acquisition of CyberArts in October 2011. The winner will travel to Las Vegas and will place the UFC Light Heavyweight belt on the victor of the Jon “Bones” Jones versus Dan Henderson championship fight.
Plumbee launches latest Quickspin slot
Social gaming operator Plumbee has announced the launch of its latest Facebook casino game with Quickspin’s Big Bad Wolf added to its Mirrorball Slots application.
Plumbee launched the Mirrorball Slots app on Facebook in March this year with Quickspin’s Rapunzel’s Tower and Goldilocks and the Wild Bears, after securing a US$2.8m investment from French venture capital firm Idinvest Partners. The app currently has around 920,000 monthly active users according to AppData.
Betfair signs Bayer Leverkusen sponsorship deal
Betfair has signed a two-year sponsorship deal with the German football club Bayer 04 Leverkusen, in a move which will see the club’s sporting director and former Germany international Rudi Völler become a brand ambassador for the operator.
The exchange operator will gain a branding presence at the Bundesliga club’s BayArena stadium with pitch side branding, and become involved in other club activities.
Playtech and Mobenga collaborate for first time
The launch of a suite of mobile casino games for Paddy Power has seen Playtech work in partnership with its mobile sportsbook subsidiary Mobenga for the first time since its acquisition last year.
The portfolio of nine games, including roulette, blackjack and a number of slots, marks the first time the solutions provider has partnered with Mobenga since acquiring the business for up to 23.8m in July last year, with Playtech integrating the games into the Paddy Power iPad and iPhone apps. Mobenga was responsible for the technical development of both products.
William Hill completes Nevada sportsbook acquisitions
William Hill has completed the acquisition of three Nevada-based sports betting companies it agreed to buy for a total of US$55m last year.
The deals to buy American Wagering Inc (AWI), Brandywine Bookmaking and the racing and sportsbook assets of Sierra Developments, trading as Cal Neva, had been subject to Hills obtaining a gaming licence from the Nevada Gaming Commission, which was granted on 21 June.
Microgaming launches Dark Knight slot
Microgaming has released a new video slot based on The Dark Knight, the second film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.
Perform acquires Turkish media company
Perform Group has invested more than 40m Turkish Lira (£14.6m) for a 51% stake in leading Turkish digital media company Mackolik Internet Hizmetleri Ticaret A.S, the AIM-listed live streaming provider has announced.
ComTrade launches Facebook bingo game
Slovenia-based software supplier ComTrade has announced its latest move into the social gaming sector with the launch of the first 90-ball bingo solution on the Facebook platform, with Palatial Leisure Limited’s Bingo Britain brand the first operator to go live with the product.
Bodog88 in BuzzSports deal
Philippines-based Bodog brand licensee Bodog88 has agreed a deal with Buzz Sports to use the British company’s flagship ZonePlay product.
Kambi in Fun88 deal
Asian-facing brand Fun88 has struck a deal which will see Unibet’s B2B subsidiary Kambi Sports Solutions supply it with Supertoto and Superscore pool betting products.
SBTech brings Georgian casino online
Gibraltar-based software provider Sports Betting Technology (SBTech) has signed a deal to provide Georgia-based Casino Iveria with its online betting solution.
Worldlink becomes Sunderland AFC betting partner
Mobile sports data provider Worldlink has announced that Sunderland AFC is one of the three English Premier League football clubs with which it agreed partnerships last week.
Sporting Solutions, the B2B subsidiary of spread betting operator Sporting Index has announced the launch of an early pricing service to help sportsbooks cover as many events as possible at the London Olympics, which start at the end of July. Commenting on the launch the company’s business development director Ronnie Whelan said: “It is our view that London 2012 is going to be a huge betting event, presenting a fantastic opportunity for those bookmakers that are prepared.
“For over a year now our modelling and trading teams have comprehensively analysed data for all 36 sports to develop state-of-the-art trading models specifically for the Olympics. We’ve built our reputation on our trading expertise and the quality of our prices. It will be no different for the Olympics. We are now giving sportsbooks the opportunity to benefit from this unique service”, Whelan explained.
Ladbrokes‘ Spanish subsidiary LBApuestas has signed a two-year sponsorship deal with Spanish football club Espanyol. While it will not be the Barcelona-based side’s shirt sponsor, it will have branding around Espanyol’s Cornella-El Prat stadium, on its website and in corporate images and press releases, and is the first major football sponsorship partner for the operator.
La Française des Jeux-owned sportsbook provider LVS has announced the launch of the latest version of its website and CMS framework solution Apollo. The updated product has been built using Ruby on Rails and HTML5, with live streaming, web TV and radio embedded in the framework. Customers can also use the system to control and edit the content which appears on Apollo, which has already gone live on La Française des Jeux’s ParionsWeb sportsbook.
William Hill have signed a deal with IT solutions provider CA Technologies which will see the operator take delivery of its CA Application Performance Management (CA APM) solution which provides analytics tools to help Hills track customer usage in order to improve and enhance site performance.