LuckyCasino snapped up ahead of Swedish market opening
A recently-incorporated company led by former Vera&John chief executive Johan Königslehner has seized control of Viral Interactive's LuckyCasino brand ahead of Sweden’s market opening up at the start of 2019.
Glitnor Group, which struck the deal with Viral Interactive's parent company, Fortuity Holdings, was registered in Malta on April 20 as Glitnor Holding Limited.
Königslehner was CEO of Vera&John for more than five years, through to October 2016.
A statement to announce the deal said that Glitnor is “backed by a team of industry and Swedish based iGaming veterans”, with the timing of the deal allowing Glitnor “to be ideally positioned to capitalise further on the recent regulatory developments in Sweden”.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but as part of the transaction, Daniel Eriksson has stepped down as Viral Interactive’s CEO in order to become Glitnor’s new head of business development.
“Being part of building Viral Interactive to where it is and developing the LuckyCasino brand has been a great experience,” Eriksson said. “Joining Glitnor and driving their business development forward in this next period of growth is a challenge that I’m really looking forward to.”
Viral Interactive, which was granted a licence by the Malta Gaming Authorities in October 2016, is also licensed with the Gambling Commission in the UK. LuckyCasino.com Viral is a white label multi-channel casino and betting solutions provider.
Fortuity Holdings director Martin Prantner (pictured) said: “We’re delighted to have concluded this deal for the LuckyCasino brand which is powered by the Finnplay technology.
“We believe Johan and his team are uniquely placed in the market, given their track record of managing and scaling online casino brands in the past, and they shall therefore ensure the LuckyCasino brand is taken to the next level of growth.”
Königslehner added: “Our team has many years in developing high-growth B2C casino brands such as Vera&John in emerging and mature regulated markets.
“We are tapping into the fast growing pay and play concept developing in Sweden and Finland with no account creation needed and instant withdrawals. We believe this concept is part of the future and shall be successful in the regulated Swedish market next year.”
At iGB Live! last week in Amsterdam, Adam Kostyal, senior vice-president at Nasdaq, which operates the Stockholm Stock Exchange, said that the upcoming re-regulation of the Swedish market had led to a flurry of activity from international operators exploring the opportunity to secure a listing.
Sweden’s gaming regulator recently urged operators to apply as early as possible when the licensing window opens on August 1 ahead of the market opening up in January 2019.