Betsson chief dismisses talk of Spanish move
Rate of tax in Spain "too high" for Swedish operator as it launches Microgaming-powered mobile poker on Betsson.com
Betsson CEO Magnus Silfverberg (pictured) has dismissed recent speculation linking the operator to a move into Spain shortly after the company unveiled its first mobile poker product for its Betsson.com brand.
The Swedish operator was rumoured to have been mulling a move into the regulated Spanish market, however, Silfverberg told eGaming Review the 25% rate of gross gaming tax applied in the country was “too high” to make such a move possible.
But the Betsson chief said the company still had ambitious plans for expansion into new markets which could come in the form of both organic growth and growth by acquisition.
“We are looking at a mixture of the two, which reflects our track record in both our B2C and B2B operations,” he said.
“We are an opportunistic company which is looking to enter new markets and expand the business and we have a business model which lends itself to acquisitions “ we are able to seamlessly integrate businesses into the company using our technology but also keep the brand so that it can maintain its customers.”
Silfverberg also revealed the company was “absolutely” looking at further B2B partnerships, something he described as being a good way of gaining a foothold in a new market.
The news comes as the operator launched its new Microgaming-powered mobile poker product. Betsson mobile poker has been optimised for iPhone and iPad and follows the launch of its mobile app for its mobile sportbook and casino verticals last month.
Despite calling the poker market “tough” “ Betsson recently posted a 4% drop in Q3 poker revenues “ Betsson CEO Magnus Silfverberg told eGR it was important to enhance its mobile offering.
“We have had their [Microgaming’s] mobile poker on some of our partner brands for a while, but not until now launched on Betsson.com,” Silfverberg said.
“We are constantly developing new apps and features for mobile, it is a very important area for us – we have gone from almost 0% to 12% of revenues in the space of 18 months.”