Gambling Industry Financial News — Weekly Round-up for October 06, 2017

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Oct 6, 2017

Global Gaming To List On Nasdaq First North

Ninja online casino owner plans to raise SEK 22 million

Global Gaming 555 AB, which owns and operates the Ninja online casino has advised that it is making application for a listing on the Nasdaq First North stock exchange to support its continued growth and development.

The Malmo, Sweden-based company has published a memorandum summarising the business and offering in the issue:

* The offer is aimed at the public in Sweden and institutional investors, and includes an issue of no more than 1,000,000 shares;

* At full subscription, the issue will raise 22,000,000 SEK before issue costs;

* Minimum subscription is 250 shares, corresponding to SEK 5500, with a subscription price of SEK 22 per share;

* The subscription price corresponds to a company valuation of approximately SEK 850,000,000 (pre-money);

* The registration period will take place from 2nd October to 11th October 2017;

* Liquid day calculated on October 16, 2017;

* Preliminary first trading day on Nasdaq First North is 19th October 2017. This timing depends on the completion of a number of administrative processes. Global Gaming’s target is for the first day of trading to commence on 19th October 2017.

The company provides B2C and B2B gaming products and services to partners and consumers in regulated and emerging markets around the world. Its flagship Ninja online casino carries over a hundred slots powered by tier one developers like NetEnt and Play’nGO.

September Another Good Month For Macau

Revenues up 16.1 percent

Numbers released by the Macau regulator Sunday show that the gambling island extended its 14-month winning streak in September, delivering gambling revenues of 21.4 billion patacas ($2.66 billion) – a 16.1 percent year-on-year improvement.

The outlook for October, which includes a national holiday week in China, looks equally positive; during national holidays, Macau is typically inundated with visitors.

Q3-2017 GGR at Macau’s casinos rose 21.8 percent year-on-year to MOP67 billion, whilst GGR for 2017 to date (ie nine months) is MOP193.38 billion, up 18.8 percent from the prior-year period.

Strong Growth In Online Revenue At Espace Jeux

Loto Quebec hopes that Act 74 will help is boost online earnings even further

Loto Quebec, a gambling monopoly operated by the Canadian provincial government of Quebec, released its FY-2016-2017 results last week, reporting strong growth in revenues from its Espace Jeux online gambling division.

Espace Jeux delivered revenue growth of 30 percent year-on-year at Cdn$ 85.9 million, although Loto Quebec appears optimistic that the possible implementation of the province’s notorious Act 74 will enable it to increase that figure substantially in the years ahead.

Online gambling contributed 1.9 percent of overall Loto Quebec group revenues during the reporting period.

InfoPowa readers may recall that the province’s Act 74, passed last year but not yet implemented due to legal challenges, essentially gives Loto Quebec an online monopoly strengthened by enforcement regulations that mandate ISP site-blocking on international competitors…all ostensibly on grounds of public health and consumer safety.

The company would have a say on which, if any, international competitors would be acceptable for licensing by the province.

The Loto Quebec report notes that the monopoly has plans to generate a PR campaign designed to persuade public opinion that interfering with the internet through domain blocking is justified and important in the interests of said public health and consumer protection.

The protectionism around Espace Jeux has already ensured that it has a home advantage, with recent player statistics showing the Loto Quebec online subsidiary led the market in August with almost 275,000 registered players, more than twice those registered by nearest rival The Stars Group (107,000).

Shaked Family Trust Sells Off Remaining Holdings In 888

GBP 112 million realised from sale of 46.3 million shares in online gambling company

In a stock exchange advisory Wednesday morning the Shaked family trust, at one time the biggest single shareholder in online gambling group 888 Holdings plc, announced that it has sold 46.3 million shares in the company at a price of 243 pence each, for a total of around GBP 112 million.

With this sale, the trust will have exited its holding in 888, and will cease to hold any shares in the company. 888 will not receive any proceeds from the sale, the settlement of which is expected to occur this Friday. The proceeds are payable in cash on usual settlement terms.

JP Morgan, along with Morgan Stanley & Co International, acted as joint book runners in the offering.

The sale follows the trust’s disposal of 40 million shares in June this year, which reduced its holding to 37 percent and raised GBP 108 million. That sale was preceded by the sell-off of 27.8 million shares by co-founders Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak, who banked a reported GBP 60 million from their disposal in mid-2016.

Aussie Online Sports Betting Company Reports Good Q3-2017 Performance

TopBetta reports more players, higher turnover and revenue

Australian online sportsbook operator TopBetta Holdings has posted its Q3-2017 results, highlighting:

* Strong quarterly wagering and tournament turnover of A$54.62 million, up 29 percent on the June 2017 quarter, and up 353 percent year-on-year;

* Revenue of A$3.34 million, up by 46 percent on the June 2017 quarter;

* Increase in Active Users to 10,904 up by 20 percent on the June 2017 quarter

TopBetta CEO, Todd Buckingham reported:

“It’s been a busy quarter for the company and we are pleased with the results that have been generated. Some of the key metrics for the quarter were to achieve licencing in the UK and the US while rolling out The Global Tote product on international racing. We were able to accomplish this while still achieving strong growth within our retail wagering business.”

Q3 was the second period of TopBetta reporting to include revenues from its wholly-owned subsidiary The Global Tote Ltd’s B2B product Global Tote, which has continued to increase coverage on Australian and international race meetings for approved bookmakers.

Global Tote turnover for the quarter totalled A$22.58 million (up from A$8.96 million the previous quarter).

During the quarter TopBetta received licences to operate in both the US and the UK. The UK licence for TopBetta allows the company “to provide facilities for real event betting”, and the licence for The Global Tote allows it “to manufacture, supply, install or adapt gambling software; to provide facilities for pool betting”.

The US licence allows US-licenced wagering operators to access global pools provided by The Global Tote (subject to the US wagering operators individually receiving approvals from relevant racing bodies to offer betting on their racing content).

TopBetta Pty Ltd was also granted an Advance-Deposit Wagering licence by the North Dakota Racing Commission which allows TopBetta to offer pari-mutuel betting to the US public within the 35 US states to which the ADW applies and which currently allow online wagering.

The licences received from both the US and the UK now allow the company to launch the retail TopBetta business, and The Global Tote Limited to launch its wholesale B2B platform, The Global Tote, into these markets, and the company expects to go live in both the US and the UK in the first quarter of calendar year 2018.

TopBetta boasts proprietary technology platforms that combine an online racing and sports wagering offering with a fantasy wagering platform and enables sports fans to compete against each other via online tournaments.

Two months ago, the company announced that it had completed a placement of 21,445,681 fully paid ordinary shares to raise A$9,007,186.02 (see previous InfoPowa reports).