Betsson makes Spanish debut with €3m acquisition
Operator acquires Premier Casino as part of strategy to increase its share of locally regulated revenues
Betsson is expanding into the Spanish online gambling market for the first time after signing a €3m deal to acquire Spain-facing operator Premier Casino.
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the month and will see Betsson launch additional brands under Premier Casino’s licences as part of the firm’s multi-brand strategy.
Premier Casino, which has approximately 260,000 registered customers, is predominantly a pure-play online casino operator but also holds licences for sports betting and other online games.
Betsson CEO and president, Ulrik Bengtsson, recently told EGR Intel the operator was focused on expanding its presence in European egaming markets outside the Nordics region.
“The [Premier Casino] acquisition is in line with Betsson’s ambition to increase the share of locally regulated revenue,” Bengtsson said this morning.
“Spain is one of Europe’s largest gaming markets and especially casino is growing fast. Betsson’s strategy of building and running locally strong casino brands, for example in the UK and Italy, makes me confident that we will build leading brands also in Spain.”
According to numbers released by Spain’s regulator, total revenues for the 12 months ended 31 December 2016 were €429m, an increase of 34% on the year previous, while turnover was up 27% to €10.9bn.
The Premier Casino deal is the latest acquisition made by Betsson in recent months, having bought horseracing operator RaceBets for approximately €40m, TonyBet’s Lithuanian business for up to €6m and also is close to completing the acquisition of NetPlay TV.