We'd sell Svenska Spel if elected, says Sweden opposition party

The future of ownership of Svenska Spel may well depend on the outcome of Sweden’s 2018 general election, a prominent Swedish politician has told EGR Intel.

Olof Lavesson, party member of the opposition centre-right Moderate party, made clear that it was not government’s place to compete against the private sector and would quickly look to sell the operator should it form part of the next government.

“If [Svenska Spel] will be among others in the market then there will be no reason for the government to own the company anymore so we should sell it as soon as possible,” he said.

And Lavesson’s words echoed the actions of former Moderate prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who sold-off the former state-owned alcohol brand Absolut Vodka back in 2008.

According to odds listed by Unibet, the most likely outcome of next year’s election is a coalition of four parties, which includes the Moderates.

However, a continuation of the current coalition administration, made up of the country’s Social Democrats and the Greens, would most likely result in Svenska Spel remaining under government reign.

A Swedish government report published last week proposed that Svenska Spel retained its monopoly on lottery but apply for a commercial licences to offer sports betting and casino products.

And Gustaf Hoffstedt, general secretary at the Association of Online Gambling Operators, told EGR Intel there would be potential issues should Svenska Spel operate both a monopolised and commercial arm, similar to the situation in Denmark where its government is now considering the sale of Danske Spil.

“We look of course a lot to our neighbour Denmark and they have a sister company called Danske Spil,” Hoffstedt said. “It’s a divided company with a shared logo type which is used for protected monopoly games and also for the licensed system.

“We fear that if the split between the [Svenska Spel] monopoly and the competitive side is not that obvious at all there might be subsidiaries and cross bordering between those two operators.

“Our suggestion is of course to sell the competitive side of Svenska Spel – that would solve the problem.

“One can wonder if a state-owned gambling company that does not work under the umbrella of a monopoly but just as any other operator, can work. There’s no reason, in the western world, why they [the government] would have a stake.”

Speaking to EGR Intel before the last week’s re-regulation announcement, Svenska Spel CEO Lennart Käll said the question of whether the operator would be sold was “premature”.

He added: “The next step is that the government will write a bill for parliament. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

Last year Svenska Spel recorded revenues of €934m, of which €204m was derived via digital channels.