Betsson pulls out of Holland Gaming Technology acquisition

Swedish-headquartered Betsson has terminated its agreement to acquire Holland Gaming Technology and Holland Power Gaming in favour of pursuing other business opportunities.

Betsson agreed to acquire Netherlands-licensed operator Holland Gaming and games studio Holland Power Gaming in February 2024. The deal was valued at €27.5 million ($31.4 million).

Completion of the double acquisition was subject to approval by Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA). However, as the KSA did not issue a decision by the agreed long-stop date, Betsson elected to withdraw from the deal.

As such, the purchase price, minus the break fee, will be returned to Betsson. In total, the group will receive back €26.7 million. Betsson said the unwinding will not have any notable effect on its consolidated income statement.

Does Betsson have a future in the Netherlands?

The acquisition would have seen Betsson re-enter the regulated Dutch market. Under the deal, Holland Power Gaming would have continued to supply games exclusively for Holland Gaming Technology.

Betsson was pursuing a licence of its own in the Netherlands but withdrew its application in July 2023. The group blamed “significant delays” in the approval process for the decision.

Betsson was previously operational in the country but has been inactive since exiting the market in September of 2021. Its withdrawal came one day before the Dutch regulated iGaming market launched.

At the time, Betsson said it hoped this would facilitate a future entry to the country’s legal market. Operators offering iGaming without a licence may face disciplinary action and this could impact any licence applications to operate in the market legally.

Incidentally, in March Betsson was ordered to repay a customer more than €500,000 after a player lost funds while gambling on websites that were unlicensed. The Rotterdam District Court ruled Betsson was liable to repay the funds on the case that dated back to 2014, when iGaming was not legal in the Netherlands.