Betway Kenya partner hit with £110,000 fine

Betway’s Kenya partner Bluejay Limited has been hit with a £110,000 fine by Kenya’s competition watchdog for not telling the regulator about changes in the company’s ownership in 2015.

The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) said in a report Bluejay had sold a majority stake to Malta-based GM-Gaming in 2015, which then sold the stake on to another company called Rosehall Global.

Betway said Bluejay is currently licensed to use the Betway brand in Kenya, but was not at the time of the alleged transgression.

The CAK said in a statement: “The authority, using its own intelligence, initiated investigations into the conduct of Bluejay (Betway) pursuant to Section 42(2) of the Act that prohibits implementing mergers without prior approval of the authority,” the CAK said.

“It was established that Bluejay were in contravention of Section 42(2) and (3) of the Act by implementing two transactions without prior approval.”

Transactions between firms with combined turnover over £770,000 are meant to be reported to the CAK to be checked for competition and public interest concerns.

A Betway spokesperson said: “Bluejay ultimately paid the fine and is fully cooperating with the Competitions Authority in making the necessary filings after the fact.”

Betway is currently facing regulatory scrutiny in Belgium, where the regulator recently launched sanction proceedings against the firm, although no penalties have been confirmed.