Betsson offloads Global Gaming stake
Gambling operator Betsson AB has confirmed that it has sold its stake in Global Gaming for an undisclosed amount.
Reports in the Swedish media state that Betsson acquired 726,000 shares, which represents 1.8% of Global Gaming, in a non-publicised transaction in June of this year. However, it is understood that Betsson then sold the shares a few weeks later.
Speaking to iGamingBusiness.com, Betsson confirmed that it has sold its stake in Global Gaming, but did not go into further detail about the transaction.
Betsson shares closed yesterday (October 9) at SEK47.90, up 4% on the opening price, while Global Gaming shares were down 9.3% to SEK6.70.
The initial share purchase came just a matter of weeks after Global Gaming had its Swedish operating licence revoked by national regulator Spelinspektionen. At the time, the regulator said it had discovered “serious deficiencies” in business practices at the operator.
Global Gaming has appealed the decision on a number of occasions, but is yet to succeed in its efforts to reclaim the licence.
However, Global Gaming in August recommenced activities in Sweden by rolling out the white label brand NanoCasino through its partnership with igaming technology and platform provider Finnplay Group.
The operator also transferred its NinjaCasino.se domain to Finnplay subsidiary Viral Interactive last month, with a view to relaunching in the brand in the market.
The licence loss hit Global Gaming in the second quarter, with revenue falling by 42% year-on-year to SEK132.2m (£11.0m/€12.2m/$13.4m). The operator said the ruling cost it an estimated SEK20m over the final 13 days of June.
Meanwhile, Betsson last month announced that it had placed SEK1bn senior unsecured bonds, attracting interest from a number of large institutional investors throughout the Nordic region.
Confirmation of the placement came after Betsson set out plans to issue a new senior unsecured bond with an expected initial minimum volume of SEK500m to support its ongoing growth and expansion strategy.