Gibraltar-headquartered provider of gambling solutions Nektan said this week that it is in advanced stages of restructuring its operations, which might include sale of its UK B2C division.

As a result from the ongoing reorganization discussions, the company informed investors that it will not be able to release its audited full-year report for the financial year ended June 30, 2019 before December 31, as required under AIM rules. Nektan was founded in 2011 and floated on AIM in late 2014.

Due to the expected delay in the publication of the company’s financial accounts, its shares will be suspended on January 2, 2020. Shares will resume trading on AIM as soon as the accounts are published. In a statement dated December 23, Nektan informed investors that it expects to be able to release its annual financial results later in January.

Licensed by Gibraltar and UK gambling regulators, Nektan provides solutions intended for both the B2B and B2C sectors of the industry. Its B2C division is represented by its white label casino technology platform Evolve. The platform delivers full casino operator experience, including back-office.

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Nektan’s white label solution also includes HTML5 content from more than 15 major casino games suppliers. The content offered is localized per jurisdiction and market.

Through its E-Lite B2B content aggregation platform, Nektan provides operators and their players with access to hundreds of titles from leading casino content suppliers. The platform also offers promotional tools such as free spins, bonus wallets, and APIs.

Strong Interest from Potential Partners

Nektan said this week that it international B2B and B2C divisions continue to experience strong interest from potential partners. The gambling group also revealed in its recent statement that it is on track to complete 20 new site launches by the end of the year.

More websites are expected to go live in the first quarter of 2020. Nektan’s board believes that the upcoming site launches will be transformational as some of their partners are anticipated to contribute significant revenues to the company once their Nektan-powered operations are fully established. This usually happens between three and four months after a site goes live.

Some of the recently launched operations have already begun delivering revenues for Nektan. The company said that this has shown that confidence in its B2B business is growing. Nektan believes that the performance of its B2B division is validating the group’s decision to restructure its operations and focus more attention and resources to explore and exploit the opportunities created namely by its B2B operations.

Nektan has also been able to explore new markets this year. The company entered over the summer the African marketplace through its E-Lite content aggregator.

The gambling group had partnered two major regional operators – Betika and BetLion – to provide them with access to the 500+ HTML5 titles currently available on E-Lite. Both Betika and BetLion had their licenses renewed by the Kenyan Betting Control and Licensing Board. The two companies boast significant presence in other African markets, as well.

Source: Delay in publication of annual audited accounts and update on commercial progress

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The West Virginia Lottery has started work on an online gambling regulatory framework and Director John Myers said recently that he felt pretty good about how the agency has been approaching the matter.

West Virginia already has online sports betting up and running. The state’s first digital sportsbook went live in February, but was shuttered abruptly due to a bitter vendor dispute. Online sports betting returned to West Virginia in late August.

Speaking with local news outlet WV MetroNews, Mr. Myers said that the State Lottery has compared notes with officials from Pennsylvania to see where they are at with the regulation of online casino gaming. The Keystone State’s first legal online casinos went live this past summer.

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Mr. Myers said that their Pennsylvania counterparts “are set up very familiar to how we are.” He went on this gives them “kind of a relief” and a “little confidence that we’re headed in the right direction.”

Earlier this year, West Virginia legislators passed a bill that paved the way for the legalization of iGaming on the territory of the state. Lawmakers tasked the State Lottery with designing and implementing the rules under which online gaming activities will be conducted. Lottery officials were given about a year to craft the state’s preliminary online gambling regulatory framework.

Mr. Myers told the WV MetroNews that the iGaming emergency rules are expected to be in place by the early summer of 2020. He went on that if they stick to their previously set May to June timeframe, they will have enough time to get a permanent rule in place and “get beyond the legislative session and file the permanent rule.”

It should be noted that lottery officials have until July 1, 2020 to introduce the emergency rule. But it seems that they would be ready with it well ahead of that deadline.

Online Gambling to Generate Same Revenue as Sports Betting

Under the iGaming measure approved in the West Virginia Legislature this year, the state’s five brick-and-mortar casinos will be able to provide online gambling services to West Virginia-based customers through partnerships with online gaming operators and platform providers.

Interested casino operators will be required to pay a $250,000 online gaming license application fee for a five-year license. The license renewal fee will be $100,000.

Online casinos will be taxed at 15% on their revenue. West Virginia’s sports betting tax rate is 10%. Mr. Myers said that he expects that online gaming will generate about the same revenue as sports betting.

West Virginia’s retail sportsbooks have taken in $12.8 million in revenue since the beginning of the year, while revenue from online sports betting amounts to $4.9 million.

Mr. Myers said that what they have learned from their counterparts in Pennsylvania was that the work already done on sports betting would be of great help in the establishment of the state’s iGaming market.

The Lottery official elaborated that the “initial build-out of the iGaming system – they can almost take the new games, which will come in a suite and they can lay that right on top of a sports wagering type of platform.”

Mr. Myers also noted that online gaming would not be “as labor intensive” and time-consuming to get out as sports betting.

Source: Lottery compares notes with Pennsylvania on iGaming, WV MetroNews

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Major online gaming provider Microgaming continues to deliver on its strategy to expand its regulated presence through its recent entry into the Portuguese iGaming market.

The Isle of Man-based company has been able to set foot in Portugal through a content distribution partnership with ESC Online, the online casino brand of Estoril Sol Digital.

Estoril Sol Digital is the interactive gambling operation of Portuguese casino operator Grupo Estoril Sol, a company that boasts more than five decades of experience in the operation of brick-and-mortar gambling facilities around the country.

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Estoril Sol Digital was the first operator to be granted a license for the provision of online casino services on the territory of Portugal under the country’s newly adopted gambling regulatory regime. The operator obtained its license from the Portuguese gambling regulator, Serviço de Regulação Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ), in July 2016, or about two months after the reorganization of the local market.

A year later, Estoril Sol Digital also received a license for the operation of a digital sportsbook in Portugal.

Microgaming said this week that after a successful integration, a selection of its online slots has gone live with ESC Online and the brand is now providing those to its customers. More content will be added in the future, the major provider of innovative and diverse titles for the highly competitive and rapidly growing online gambling industry said.

Commitment to the Highest Standards

Commenting on their Portuguese expansion, Microgaming Chief Operating Officer Andrew Clucas said that they are delighted to extend their reach to that market and that they are thrilled to be providing some of their most engaging and successful titles to one of Portugal’s leading iGaming brands.

Estoril Sol Digital CEO Rui Magalhães pointed out that their partnership with Microgaming demonstrates their commitment to providing their gambling customers with “excellent content” and experience.

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Mr. Magalhães went on to say that with the addition of Microgaming’s casino titles, they look forward to bolstering their existing offering and providing players with access to rich and diverse online gaming library, and that they are confident that this collaboration will help them continue their success in their domestic market.

Portugal was the latest of several new markets Microgaming has been able to debut its content into over the past several months. The major content provider entered Sweden early this year, shortly after the reorganization of the local market and the introduction of a new regulatory regime that enabled international companies to obtain Swedish licenses and operate in a regulated environment.

Microgaming also set foot in the Czech Republic this year. The Czech online gambling market was liberalized in early 2017.

Source: Microgaming’s award-winning content is live with Estoril Sol Digital in Portugal

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A renovated and expanded Circus Circus is set to hit the town and billionaire businessman Phil Ruffin is its new ringmaster.

Mr. Ruffin won on Thursday a final approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission to purchase Circus Circus, a hotel and casino resort that has been part of the Las Vegas Strip skyline for over 50 years now, from MGM Resorts International.

The deal was closed on Friday. Under its terms, Mr. Ruffin has agreed to pay $825 million for the property. The businessman said earlier this year that he was ready to dig deep into his pockets for a Strip casino. Besides the newly acquired Circus Circus, Mr. Ruffin is also the owner of Treasure Island.

MGM announced the sale of Circus Circus this past fall, saying that the deal was part of a strategy to become an asset-light company and to focus on its core business as an integrated resort operator as well as maximize value for shareholders. To deliver on that strategy, the Las Vegas gaming and hospitality giant has also agreed to sell the iconic Bellagio to The Blackstone Group in a $4.25 billion deal.

Expansion Plans and a New Sportsbook

Mr. Ruffin told Nevada regulators this week that he plans to renovate and expand Circus Circus. The businessman will utilize nearby vacant land to add a swimming pool and sand beaches, among other new amenities.

A major change in Circus Circus’ operations has already been introduced under the property’s new management. It emerged on Friday that the property’s sportsbook would from now on be operated by William Hill US.

The British bookmaker kicked off operations at Circus Circus yesterday and announced plans to renovate the existing space. Renovation work is expected to start after the Super Bowl next February.

The revamped and upgraded space is set for pre-March Madness grand opening celebration. The remodeled sports betting facility will feature updated video screens, odds boards, and seating, among other planned tweaks.

Bettors will gain access to William Hill’s mobile betting app, kiosks, and InPlay wagering menu. The opening of a William Hill-branded sportsbook builds on the existing partnership between the major bookmaker and Mr. Ruffin.

William Hill opened recently a racebook at Casino Miami in Florida, which Mr. Ruffin purchased in December 2018. The operation could be expanded into a full-blown sportsbook, should sports betting become legal on the territory of the state.

Of their new Circus Circus sportsbook, William Hill US CEO Joe Asher said that the property is a Las Vegas landmark and that they are excited to plant another flag in the north end of the Strip, which is to see “so many new and updated offerings opening over the next few years.”

William Hill currently dominates the Nevada sports betting space as it runs more than 130 sportsbooks around Las Vegas and the rest of the state.

Mr. Ruffin said that the William Hill team was the first he thought of to oversee the sportsbook and that he cannot wait to see the remodeled space next spring.

Source: MGM Resorts International Announces Closing of Circus Circus Sale

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Online casino and sports betting operator Soft2Bet today announced that it would enter Japan’s lucrative iGaming market with its AlfCasino brand.

The space-themed online casino will go live in Japan with a suite of slot and table games as well as Live Casino titles by major Swedish industry supplier Evolution Gaming.

AlfCasino is part of Soft2Bet’s rapidly growing portfolio of online gaming and wagering brands. The company currently manages more than 15 casino and betting websites that operate in a number of markets.

Soft2Bet was founded in 2012 and has established itself as a rapidly growing and dynamic operator of digital casinos and sportsbooks. Its brand feature in-house content as well as popular titles from major industry suppliers. The company has more than 100,000 active players and its operations are promoted by more than 3,000 affiliates through its 7StarsPartners affiliate program.

Soft2Bet’s Japanese expansion campaign includes the launch of AlfCasino in that market with a selection of games by top providers and locally popular payment options such as StickPay, Venus Point, and ecoPayz.

Commenting on their launch in Japan, Teodora Breskovska, Head of Casino at Soft2Bet, said that they are thrilled to venture into that market with AlfCasino. Her statement also suggested that the company could go live in Japan with other brands in its extensive portfolio.

Enhanced Offering and Expansion

Ms. Breskovska also noted that they are planning to enhance their offering and experience they provide to their customers with the addition of content by more software suppliers and by diversifying their promotions to reward their loyal players.

Soft2Bet is focused on expanding to new markets across Europe and globally. The company currently operates with licenses from the Malta Gaming Authority, the Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen), and the Government of Curacao.

Earlier this month, the gambling operator revealed that two of its brands – YoYo casino and CampoBet – were authorized to operate in the newly reorganized and liberalized Swedish gambling market. Both websites have additionally been certified by gaming test laboratory BMM Testlabs to ensure that they are fully compliant with Sweden’s gambling regulations.

To boost its Swedish expansion, Soft2Bet partnered last month with local online payment processor Bambora to gain access to its PaymentIQ platform. The gambling operator said that its decision to integrate the PaymentIQ solution was part of its strategy to “proactively increase acceptance rates, efficiently detect fraud, provide more payment options, and speed up its business growth.”

After Sweden, Soft2Bet has now set its sights on other European markets, so it probably will not be too long before the company makes another expansion-related announcement.

Source: Soft2Bet to enter Japanese market with AlfCasino

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