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Gaming Innovation Group acquires Sportnco

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“High quality, proven B2B sportsbook – doubling short- and long-term addressable market and geographic expansion”

Gaming Innovation Group Inc. has signed a Share Purchase Agreement (“SPA”) to acquire the iGaming company Sportnco Gaming SAS (“Sportnco”). Sportnco is one of the leading platform providers of turnkey betting and gaming solutions for operators in regulated markets through its inhouse developed sportsbook and PAM. The combined company will enhance and strengthen GiG’s position as one of the industry leading platforms and media providers with innovative and proprietary products and creating one of the largest and fastest growing providers in regulated iGaming with an unparalleled geographical footprint.

Combined, GiG and Sportnco will be licensed in 25 markets, currently with around 55 clients, as Sportnco’s geographical presence is highly complementary to GiG’s current offering. Sportnco’s tier 1 sportsbook product is strong, and the acquisition is expected to create attractive commercial, operational, and technological synergies, as well as enable cost savings and accelerated growth.

Sportnco is estimating revenues for 2021 in excess of €9 million with an EBITDA around €5 million.

The initial consideration is €50.8 million, whereof €23.5 million will be paid in new shares in GiG and €27.3 million in cash. In addition, GiG will assume existing debt in Sportnco of €19.2 million and there will be an earn-out of up to €23.0 million based on the Sportnco performance in 2022 and 2023.

GiG has also entered into an agreement with SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited (“SkyCity”), whereby SkyCity will, subject to final completion of the acquisition, invest €25 million in GiG through a directed share issue at NOK 18.00 per share, that will finance the main part of the cash consideration.

Closing is expected in February 2022 and is subject to necessary approvals from relevant gaming authorities, shareholder approval to increase the authorised shares in GiG, bondholder approval on the rollover of loans in Sportnco, and final approval by GiG’s Board of Directors.

Richard Brown, CEO of GiG said: “We are tremendously excited to welcome Sportnco into Gaming Innovation Group product offering. The transaction accelerates our long-term vision to become a global leader in the provision of platform, sportsbook and media services to the iGaming industry. The hugely complimentary regulatory profile and high-quality sportsbook that Sportnco have, rapidly expands both companies short- and long-term addressable market. Herve and the team at Sportnco have built a fantastic company over the last decade, creating a great product and working in a range of competitive regulated markets and have a proven track record of success. We are very excited to combine the two companies’ offerings and accelerate our growth potential.”

Hervé Schlosser, CEO and founder of Sportnco, said “GIG and Sportnco really have the perfect match both in terms of product and geographical areas of business but also as they share the same corporate values. I am excited by the sales potential of our combined offerings. Sportnco sportsbook will add strength and attractiveness to the offer of GIG and our mutual PAM solutions will enable us to cover European and American regulated markets for all our existing and future clients.”

SkyCity’s CEO, Michael Ahearne said “we are excited that SkyCity is expanding its strategic partnership with the GiG team. GiG is an established online operator who we have come to know well since partnering in mid-2019 to launch the SkyCity Online Casino. The partnership has provided SkyCity with access to a complementary and high-growth gaming category and has enabled us to pursue an omnichannel strategy. The combined GiG/SportNCo business will be licensed or certified in over 20 jurisdictions, including growth markets such as the US, Canada and Latin America. We are delighted to support GiG in the financing of the transaction, becoming a major shareholder and helping GiG execute on its strategic vision through representation on the Board. Importantly, the equity investment builds our digital capability and strengthens our strategic alignment with GiG.”

Richard Brown adds: “we are also delighted to bring on SkyCity as a new shareholder, a company held in high-regard within the land-based segment of the industry,. Both companies’ outlook and focus around the ever-evolving digitalisation of gambling is expected to enable strategic gains, with GiG benefiting from decades of retail experience to finetune our offering and SkyCity benefiting from first-hand digital experience that GiG holds, and new opportunities brought about by the transaction with SportNCo.”

Sportnco

Sportnco is an independent sports betting and iGaming business with international presence in EuropeSouth America and the US through a combination of tier 1 clients and strong local players. The company has been successful in entering into new geographical markets and currently has around 40 partners working in 12 countries across Europe and Latin America and currently being launched in new regions in North America.

The company started in 2008, and is a specialist in online sports betting for regulated markets, starting in France, then Spain and expanding to other markets as their sports betting activity was getting regulated. The company has developed its own proprietary betting platform, offering a complete live and pre-match betting offer on more than 50 sports. It includes an experienced team of sports traders who perform betting quotation and counterparty risk management to deliver both attractive odds and high level of margin. Sportnco operates the leading B2B betting networks in France and Spain and is active in other European jurisdictions such as BelgiumPortugal, and Greece, as well as in South America and the US. The company has been developing a responsible gaming policy since its launch, which has led it to be present only in highly regulated markets.

Sportnco’s platform offers a player account management (PAM) system that enable its clients to launch a complete offer of online casino games, sports betting, poker and bingo, as it is connected to more than 40 game providers. This powerful technological integration tool  allows operators to manage all the key aspects of their activities: players KYC, CRM and bonusing, regulatory report through its proper digital vault.

Its shareholders are made up of several French private investors, alongside the CEO and founder of the company, Hervé Schlosser, who is the main shareholder of Sportnco, and the institutional investor BNP Paribas Développement who entered in 2019. Sportnco has offices in Toulouse (France), Madrid and Barcelona (Spain), and currently employs around 130 people, led by an experienced management team made up of industry veterans.

SkyCity

SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited (“SkyCity”) is New Zealand’s largest tourism, leisure and entertainment company and is dual listed on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges (with a market capitalisation of around NZ$2.3 billion)

SkyCity operates integrated entertainment complexes in New Zealand (Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown) and in Adelaide, Australia, featuring casino gaming facilities, tourist attractions, premium restaurants and bars, as well as award-winning hotels. SkyCity recently completed an A$330 million refurbishment of its Adelaide property and is currently developing an International Convention Centre and new hotel adjacent to its flagship property in Auckland (total cost around NZ$750 million).

In August 2019, SkyCity Online Casino was launched on GiG’s platform, an offshore online gaming business for New Zealanders, as a logical extension of its land-based casino operations. The platform has resonated with customers since launch with LTM revenue to 30 September 2021 of around NZ$37 million and a significant active customer base. GiG’s partnership with SkyCity has provided it with access to a complementary, high-growth gaming category and allowed it to pursue an omnichannel strategy.

The Acquisition

GiG will acquire 100% of the shares in Sportnco Gaming SAS for an initial consideration of €50.8 million, whereof €23.5 million in new shares in GiG and €27.3 million in cash. The share price will be determined by the VWAP of the GiG share 10 days prior to closing. The shares will be subject to a 6-month lock-up period. The acquisition implies an enterprise value of Sportnco of €70 million, including around €19.2 million in existing long term loans with French banks that will be rolled over.

The sellers are entitled to a two year earn-out based on the performance in 2022 and 2023 with up to €11.5 million per year. The earn-out will be paid 50% in cash and 50% in new shares in GiG, where the number of shares to be issued shall be based on a 10-day VWAP of the GiG share at the time of payment, expected in April 2023 and April 2024.

The number of outstanding shares of GiG as of today is 96,675,626 (98,415,626 on a fully diluted basis), and the number of authorized shares is 110,000,000. By assuming today’s EUR/NOK exchange rate and a share price of NOK 18.00, GiG will issue around 14.1 million new shares to SkyCity and around 13.2 million new shares to the shareholders of Sportnco. After the issuance of the new shares, the number of outstanding shares in GiG is estimated to be around 124.0 million, whereof SkyCity will hold around 11.4% and the shareholders of Sportnco 10.7%.

Sportnco has 57 shareholders whereof the largest being its CEO and founder its CEO and founder Hervé Schlosser (15.6%), Olivier Marchal, President at Bain&Co France, (9.1%) and BNP Paribas Développment (6.5%), and these will hold approximately 1.7%, 1.0% and 0.7% respectively in GiG after closing.

GiG will call for a special meeting of shareholders to be held on or about 18 January 2022 to approve to amend the certificate of incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares from 110,000,000 to cater for the acquisition, and to approve the increase the board of directors from 6 to 7 and to nominate one representative of SkyCity to the board of directors of GiG.

To keep key employees in Sportnco, a 3-year option program will be entered into, whereby the option holders, pending continued employment, will receive shares in GiG at future VWAP valuation up to a total aggregate value of €4 million.

Bond

The acquisition requires  the bond terms to allow for roll over of the current long-term loans in Sportnco. GiG also plans for a tap issue of up to SEK 100 million (€10 million) to finance part of the up-front cash consideration. GiG has engaged in discussions with its largest bondholders and received indicated support for the required amendments from investors representing approximately 59% per cent of the outstanding bond volume. The formal voting process to amend the bond terms will be announced in the beginning of January.

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2026 Tech Partnerships

eyeDP Partners with idvcheck to Provide Anti-Money Laundering Solutions

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eyeDP, the innovative provider of AI-powered document verification technology, has announced a strategic partnership with idvcheck, an international identity verification and customer acquisition specialist.

Per the partnership, eyeDP’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) services will be integrated into the idvcheck platform, enhancing existing systems to help clients maintain their AML obligations across iGaming, fintech, financial services, and other regulated sectors.

Additionally, idvcheck will integrate eyeDP’s core document verification services including data extraction from unstructured documents; AI-powered data summarisation; content validation; and document tamper and fraud detection. to boost efficiency across its service offering.

This two-way partnership will see idvcheck’s manual review and forensic investigation workflows being fully integrated into eyeDP’s platform, providing built-in failsafe for cases that cannot be automatically verified or more sophisticated requests that require further intervention. This combination of AI-powered verification and human expertise will provide the highest quality document verification and AML protection in the market.

idvcheck currently verifies documents from around 200 countries worldwide, specialising in white-labelled customer acquisition services. By integrating eyeDP’s AML technology, idvcheck will be able to process a higher volume of straightforward cases, more efficiently, whilst enabling its team to focus their expertise on more complex tasks.

Jess Whitehouse, Director of Customer Operations, at eyeDP, said: “This partnership gets 2026 off to a strong start for eyeDP as we continue to grow and establish ourselves as one of the leading document processing companies on the market.

idvcheck has a strong, international presence that will allow our platform to showcase its ability on a larger scale. Together, we can continue to develop identity and document verification solutions that provide efficient, reliable safety checks for our partners.”

Andy Pinks, Chief Operating Officer at Idvcheck, said: “During extensive testing, the benefits of integrating eyeDP’s technology into our existing infrastructure became quickly apparent. Although (at least in its current form) AI cannot replace human experience, the symbiosis of human and artificial intelligence has created immediate operational improvements. This enables us to deliver a more cost-effective and time-efficient service, to all markets, without compromising on quality.

We are excited to be working in partnership with eyeDP to deliver new and innovative products that satisfy the ever-evolving needs of our clients.

The post eyeDP Partners with idvcheck to Provide Anti-Money Laundering Solutions appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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iGaming

Vegangster Integrates OnAim Gamification Platform to Drive Player Engagement

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iGaming operators on the Vegangster platform can now launch configurable gamification campaigns designed to increase player engagement and retention across casino and sportsbook products.

Vegangster has completed a direct integration with OnAim Architecture, embedding its gamification toolkit into the Vegangster ecosystem. The partnership gives operators access to a full suite of engagement features, including leaderboards, reward bars, raffles, Journey Path, a unified Coin and Prize system, ready-to-use templates, and a rich library of mini-games, all managed directly within the platform.

All OnAim features available on Vegangster are fully customisable, from timeframes and prize logic to visual branding. Promotions can be created in minutes and triggered by real player actions such as bets, wins, and logins, enabling operators to run campaigns that feel timely and relevant without added operational complexity.

Through the OnAim Architecture, operators can quickly launch campaigns designed to boost retention, support upsell strategies, or achieve specific KPIs. Engagement can be scaled using a broad range of gamification tools or accelerated with pre-built promotion templates based on proven feature combinations. The toolkit is completed by a drag-and-drop Landing Page Builder, allowing teams to create unlimited, fully branded promotion pages in minutes.

Operators told us they needed gamification that could scale without technical bottlenecks slowing down every campaign,” said Michael Oziransky, Chief Product Officer at Vegangster. “The OnAim integration delivers exactly that: configurable features that marketing teams can deploy independently and tie directly to player behaviour triggers.”

By integrating at the core level with Vegangster, we’ve made gamification even more accessible and easy to use. Partners can create fully gamified promotions directly from their platform, starting from scratch or using our proven template system. Campaigns can be launched in minutes, and we’re setting out to build playable, engaging, and fully customisable experiences that turn engagement into real impact,” said Lasha Kalandadze, CTO at OnAim.

The OnAim gamification toolkit is now available for all Vegangster operators. Existing clients can activate gamification features through their account management teams, with campaign configuration managed directly within the Vegangster back office. New operators can access OnAim tools during onboarding as part of their standard platform setup.

Live demonstrations of the partnership will be available at ICE Barcelona, Fira Barcelona Gran Via, 19–21 January 2026. Visit Vegangster at stand 1E20.

About Vegangster

Vegangster provides a full-stack iGaming platform engineered for speed, scalability, and operator control. Its turnkey, white-label, and sweepstakes solutions integrate casino and sportsbook content, payments, CRM, compliance, and social features into a single mobile-first system. With Vegangster, operators can launch quickly and scale with confidence.

About OnAim

OnAim is a no-code gamification-as-a-service platform for iGaming operators, empowering teams to create and optimise gamified experiences in minutes while converting engagement into retention and lasting player loyalty.

Press Contact:

Romans Kozlovskis

Senior Content & PR Manager

[email protected]

The post Vegangster Integrates OnAim Gamification Platform to Drive Player Engagement appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Formula 1

Excellence Isn’t Measured by Promises: PlayamoPartners, Tag Heuer, and the Logic of Formula 1

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In iGaming, premium isn’t a promotional stunt. It’s a standard—measured in consistent payouts, high-quality traffic, and performance that earns recognition. PlayamoPartners × TAG Heuer × Formula 1.

The iGaming space has long mastered the art of noise. Hype comes easy. But increasingly, growth is being substituted with spectacle—trips, stunts, one-off “wow” events.

Helicopters, yachts, exotic getaways—they look impressive, sure. But they rarely offer what partners truly need: predictability, respect for business models, steady communication, and clear rules of engagement. The issue isn’t the price tag—it’s the absence of structure.

The question for the market is simple: is premium about the show—or about trust?

True premium doesn’t scream for attention. It selects, sustains, and rewards. Just like in Formula 1, success isn’t driven by emotion or chance—but by discipline, team coordination, and timing.

An Industry Like a Race: Speed Without System Equals Loss

iGaming often operates like a sprint—fast onboarding, fast boosts in numbers, fast pivot to the next offer. In that model, partners become disposable.

But speed only matters when paired with the right conditions: a skilled team, reliable tools, strict discipline, and transparent processes. Without them, speed breeds chaos—and every mistake comes at a cost. The faster you go, the more expensive it gets.

A premium partnership plays the long game. It’s stable, not flashy. Clear KPIs. Repeatable workflows. Predictable payouts. In this race, the winner isn’t the one who accelerates the fastest—it’s the one who handles every curve with control.

PlayamoPartners is built for this. The system favors quality traffic—PPC, SEO, media buys. Fraud and shortcuts aren’t tolerated—not as a rule, but as a principle. Partnership requires both sides to meet the same standard.

Traffic Channels at PlayamoPartners:

  • PPC

  • SEO

  • Facebook*

  • Social

  • ASO

  • UAC

  • SMS

  • Email

  • In-App & PWA

There’s one hard line: incentive traffic is strictly forbidden. Bidding on brand keywords in PPC/SEO? Fully prohibited. No shortcuts. No cheap wins. Quality over quantity.

The Payout Model: Stability as a Signal

Premium isn’t about grand gestures—it’s about reliability. At PlayamoPartners, payouts are consistent. Hold times max out at two weeks for FB, ASO, UAC, In-App, PWA. Most sources have zero delay. In a space full of promises, predictability is the real currency of trust.

Another mark of maturity: PlayamoPartners only works with in-house products. Full control from A to Z. No external handoffs. No diluted responsibility. Just a clear decision-making chain.

That’s why premium here doesn’t feel artificial. It feels like regulation. In Formula 1, regulation is the law of the industry.

Why TAG Heuer Fits

TAG Heuer isn’t a name-drop—it’s a symbol. Of precision. Of longevity. Of performance when timing matters most. A brand historically trusted to measure time where every fraction of a second matters. In that world, status doesn’t come from loud promises. It comes from control, consistency, and discipline.

In 2025, TAG Heuer returned to Formula 1 as its official timekeeper.

That’s not coincidence. It’s a statement. That time isn’t metaphor — it’s a tool for mastering results.

Back in 1969, TAG Heuer became the first luxury brand to place its logo on a Formula 1 car. In 1971, the first to sponsor a team. That wasn’t trend-following. That was trend-setting.

And in 2025, TAG Heuer became the first-ever title sponsor of the legendary Monaco Grand Prix — a race synonymous with elite competition, invitation-only access, and status earned, not staged.

Perhaps most telling: TAG Heuer’s partnership with McLaren lasted from 1985 to 2015.

Thirty years. That’s not hype — that’s resilience. And it’s exactly the logic premium programs should operate on.

How PlayamoPartners Rewards — Without Selling

In this market, rewards often come dressed as sales tactics. At PlayamoPartners, it’s different.

Premium Rewards is a private system. Not a storefront. Not a spectacle. The rewards aren’t bait—they’re a quiet, logical endpoint in a well-run system.

Those who get rewarded are the ones who play the long game. No shiny one-hit wonders. Just consistent, qualified results.

No raffles. No promises of “everyone wins.” Just clear criteria: quality, volume, and stability.

Partner rewards include:

  • TAG Heuer timepieces

  • MacBook Air

  • iPhone 17 Air

  • AirPods Max

Not giveaways. Not clickbait. You have to earn them. In an industry that often tries to buy loyalty with noise, this approach is intentionally quiet. And all the more convincing.

What’s Really on Offer

Not gadgets. Not even rewards. What PlayamoPartners offers is a system—one built on performance and reliability. One where partners are treated as value-creators, not variables. Where execution speaks louder than emotion. Where premium is simply the default mode of operation.

Confirmed by scale: 10,000+ active partners. A decade in the game.

Geography & Growth

PlayamoPartners operates globally but focuses on Tier-1 markets. Priority geos include:
Canada, Australia, DACH, Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Poland.

Restricted geos:
USA, UK, Israel, Netherlands, France (including territories), Baltics, Ukraine, Belarus, and selected African and Asian markets.

Why? Because selectivity is part of quality.

Models & Terms

Available iGaming models: CPA, RevShare, Hybrid. Deals are negotiated individually based on traffic quality, placement terms, and lead performance. Because in a mature system, numbers aren’t slogans—they’re the product.

The Portfolio

PlayamoPartners manages 17 in-house brands:

Playamo, Bizzo Casino, Dragon Slots, Avalon78, National Casino,
20Bet, Woo Casino, CasinoChan, Cookie Casino, Bob Casino,
Mason Slots, Spinia, Limewin, BetAmo, Spinando, Betchan, Granawin.

Again, the Formula 1 logic applies: it’s not about one star car—it’s about the strength of the whole team.

That team is held together by clear traffic policies, incentive bans, predictable payouts, and calm, respectful communication. The kind of environment where the story isn’t “how fun it was,” but “how clear it was.”

This isn’t another offer. This is real business.

Final Lap

Premium affiliate programs operate by a different logic. Rewards aren’t promotional props—they’re a mark of recognition. Built on strict discipline: vetted sources, transparent rules, proven systems, steady payouts, and deliberate decisions.

TAG Heuer stands as a symbol of precision, endurance, and results over time. In tandem with Formula 1 thinking, it shapes a clear thesis:

Premium isn’t about shine. Premium is about how well things work.

Barcelona IGB 2026.

Booth 81-M10

If you’re operating at that level—you’ll know it right away.

The post Excellence Isn’t Measured by Promises: PlayamoPartners, Tag Heuer, and the Logic of Formula 1 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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