Kindred sued by Swedish fashion entrepreneur

Holknekt has struggled with gambling addiction over a number of years, and argues that Unibet, the Kindred-owned operator, should have flagged his case and had safeguards put in place.

Over his 15-year struggle with the addiction Holknekt said he bet a total of SEK55m, losing SEK26m at Unibet alone.

Holknet told iGB that he accepts that every game he played was his own choice, but that nonetheless his addiction was exploited by the operator.

Holknekt was bullish on the strength of his case to iGB.

“We go into this process with a great deal of confidence as we have a professional data analyst team (thanks to GDPR), a strong legal partner and endless witnesses and whistle-blowers from both in and outside of Kindred group and Kambi,” he said.

“What we have so far is enough, yet we will work around the clock to strengthen it.”

Holknet clarified that Kambi – which provides the sportsbook solution for Kindred – was not a subject of the lawsuit.

“This will hopefully be a long process, time will serve our legal, PR and analysts perfectly. This is a case that will make a precedent for so many others. And hopefully direct towards green and humanly sustainable form of gambling.”

Holknekt is a well-known anti-industry campaigner in Sweden.

Kindred corporate communications manager Jamie Abbey acknowledged the reporting of the lawsuit but did not elaborate further.  

“We are aware of the press reports and have no further comment at this time,” said Abbey.

Kindred recently published its Q2 financial report which showed a steep decline in revenue as the company reeled from its temporary absence in the Dutch online gaming market.

The business is also currently exploring a potential sale of the company under pressure from activist investor Corvex Management.