Betsson Group Pulls 8 Brands from the UK in a New Consolidation Strategy

Nordic online gambling operator, Betsson AB has announced a significant cut back on its presence in the UK gaming market in a new consolidation strategy. To date, the Stockholm-listed company has been operating with nine brands cutting across three different platforms, under four United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) licenses.

In the new plan to streamline its initially busy footprint in the UK market, Betsson Group will withdraw eight of its brands with immediate effect from the British territory, and no more wagers or deposits will be accepted. Unlike Dunder Casino which is exiting the UK for good, the gaming operator is switching to service the British online gambling market via its Rizk.com domain. Betsson acquired the Rizk online casino and sports betting brand after buying out the B2C assets of the Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) in a £28.8 million (€33m/$35.9m) deal back in April, alongside Guts, Thrill, and Kaboo brands.

The Malta-based gaming company will now hand over three of its four licenses to the UKGC, one of which was still under review, to officially close down its UK facing side under the Betsson, Betsafe, Racebets, Jackpot247, Live Roulette, Kaboo, Guts, and Casino Euro online gaming brands. Patrons of the eight platforms that are moving out of the UK have been reassured that their account balances are safe. Players with outstanding bets in their accounts should expect a payout as all these wagers will be counted as winning bets.

Why is Betsson Cutting Back on its UK Market Presence?

Betsson’s woes in the British market started in 2017 when it acquired NetPlay TV, an AIM-listed interactive gambling operator in an all-cash £26.4 million deal, bringing the Vernons, Supercasino, and Jackpot247 brands under its wing. Unfortunately, this acquisition which had been spearheaded by the former company president and CEO Ulrik Bengtsson (now Group CEO of William Hill plc) did not gain enough traction to produce desired proceeds.

A year later, in 2018, the Betsson Group started reducing its business across the British market, first by slashing its marketing expenditure for the region and moving some of its Netplay operations to Malta in a bid to adopt a more efficient strategy. By the end of 2018, the company had closed its London offices. 

After announcing that it would be focusing on growing only one brand in the UK, the company released a statement indicating that; 

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“This initiative will increase efficiency and have a positive impact on the contribution from its UK business, … It will also enable resources to be reallocated for profitable growth in other markets. The other eight brands will be retained in the Group’s portfolio for use in other markets and therefore there will be no need for write down of goodwill or trademark.”

Until the latest consolidation move, Betsson had been sustaining a costly and long-winded presence in the UK. While it was running nine brands on three different technology platforms under four separate Gambling Commission licenses, only 3% of its corporate revenues came from the region.

On top of that, the company also cited the uncertain regulatory changes that have been taking place in the UK, explaining that they were not sustainable for the future of its business in the following statement; 

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“The UK regulatory framework has undergone significant changes in the past few years, requiring extensive investments both in technology, regulatory compliance as well as marketing, which is not sustainable with the group’s current UK setup.”