Announced this morning (30 December), Allwyn has proposed a €217m cash payment, plus €110m in potential performance-based earnouts, to the investors of Logflex MT Holdings in exchange for a majority stake in Novibet

According to Allwyn, the investment will enhance its technology and operational resources for online gambling, with Novibet employing 1,000 staff across hubs in Malta, Greece, and Brazil, and maintaining a market presence in Brazil, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, and Mexico.

Dealmakers stated: “Allwyn’s acquisition of Novibet enhances the group’s technological capabilities, as well as strengthening its position in the online sports betting and gaming markets, in line with Allwyn’s strategy of making selective acquisitions in relevant products, technologies, and content to support its growth.”

Confirming Allwyn’s M&A intent, Group CEO Robert Chvatal said: “Novibet has demonstrated its ability to expand across multiple markets and innovate, which will strengthen our momentum and enhance our offer to players.

“The innovation potential of this transaction is substantial as we look to provide our customers with the very best experience in online sports betting and gaming. Novibet has a world-class team, and we look forward to capitalising on the international opportunities ahead.”

Following the deal, Novibet will remain under the leadership of its founding management team, which will continue to oversee operations after the transaction is completed. The company will continue to operate independently, maintaining its current brand and management structure.

Since 2022, the board of Novibet has revised strategic options to enhance the firm’s capital liquidity and growth plans, which previously included a $700m IPO via a SPAC merger with Artemis Investment Corporation – a deal abandoned in 2023.

Founded in 2010, Novibet is recognised as Greece’s second-largest online gambling group and has expanded its presence in the regulated markets of Italy, Malta, and Ireland. Management sees further growth opportunities in Romania, Hungary, France, and Spain.

George Athanasopoulos, CEO of Novibet, added: “Joining Allwyn marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Novibet. Allwyn’s dedication to growth opportunities was a key factor in our decision, and we look forward to combining their extensive resources and expertise with our leading technology and operational experience.

“This partnership will accelerate our ability to develop proprietary solutions, expand our product offering, and extend our success to a much larger international audience at a faster pace. 

“We also want to recognise the passion and dedication of the entire Novibet team, whose unwavering commitment to our long-term vision has been integral to reaching this milestone. With their continued support, we remain committed to delivering exceptional value for both our customers and our shareholders.”

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Novibet players will gain access to games from over 70 providers as a result of the integration, as ESA Gaming’s Game Aggregation System that consists of slots, live dealer experiences and non-traditional titles becomes available to the operator. 

Thomas Smallwood, Chief Commercial Officer at ESA Gaming, stated: “We’re thrilled to deepen our relationship with Novibet and bring even more value to their players through our comprehensive GAS platform.

“By providing access to a wider variety of games from some of the best providers in the industry, we’re confident that this will enrich the gaming experience and drive continued growth for both parties.”

The deal builds on an existing relationship between the supplier and Novibet, having added its proprietary content to the operator’s online casino platform in a previous deal formed in 2023. 

This provided Novibet players with access to games such as Dragon Mine, Goal Mine, and crash game Big Fish Bonanza. 

Following the recent extension, Novibet players will be able to play games provided by ESA Gaming’s network of over 70 supplier partners, including Blueprint Gaming, Leap Gaming and Wazdan.  

Foteini Matthaiou, Casino Product & CRM Director at Novibet, added: “Partnering with ESA Gaming has allowed us to elevate our offering and provide our players with an exceptional selection of titles.

“The integration of their Game Aggregation System is a significant step forward, ensuring that we remain competitive in an ever-evolving market. We look forward to continuing our collaboration and delivering even more engaging experiences to our customers.”

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Through the alliance, players in MGA jurisdictions including Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Ireland will gain access to a selection of over 50 slot releases from the supplier said to be tailored for these specific markets. 

Elena Shaterova, 7777 gaming’s CCO, stated: “We are thrilled to team up with Novibet to expand our presence in these key international markets. Novibet’s dedication to providing top-notch gaming experiences aligns perfectly with our commitment to delivering high-quality casino content. 

“We look forward to seeing our games entertain and delight players in Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Ireland.”

While games within 7777 gaming’s slot offering have yet to be disclosed in this deal, the studio could offer Novibet players titles such as Mayan Gold, Multi Wins, Cash 20x, FunFair 2x, Zeus Quest, Honey of Gold, Golden Scarab, Bucks Detective, Jungle Conquest and Happy Sheep.

Foteini Matthaiou, Casino Product & CRM Director at Novibet, added: “Our partnership with 7777 gaming represents a significant step forward in our mission to offer the best online casino experience to our players. 

“With 7777 gaming’s impressive portfolio of MGA-certified games, we provide an even more thrilling and diverse gaming experience for our international audiences.”

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In addition to detailing the company’s launch in Latin America and strong performance in Greece, he reveals the reason its plans to go public via a SPAC deal were cancelled and why his current focus is on organic growth.

“We in Novibet have considered being the buyer in the M&A space,” said Athanasopoulos. “But so far what is on offer is underwhelming, with the market presenting only very limited opportunities that could justify a buy-versus-build dilemma, especially for a company with organic growth rates such as our own.”

Also featured in Issue 28 of SBC Leaders is ComeOn Group CEO Juergen Reutter, who outlined the casino-first operator’s ambition to become a major player in the sports betting world.

The company has put significant resources into the plan, including the acquisition of specialist technology business Arland, and Reutter is aiming high. 

“Our strategy is to become a tier one operator in the sports market,” Reutter said. “For us, it’s a key goal because we are very dominant in the casino market, where we have significant market shares in our territories. But when it comes to sportsbook, we are underrepresented. 

“We are running at around 15 per cent of our revenues from sportsbook, but we believe our fair share, the fair share of the sports-led operator, lies at 30-35 per cent and above. So we are here to double our sportsbook business in the next three years.”

Elsewhere in the English half of the magazine, Dean Shannon, CEO of Entain Australia and New Zealand, and Kai Cantwell, CEO of Responsible Wagering Australia, discuss the possibility of advertising restrictions down under, while Wazdan CCO Andrzej Hyla outlines the studio’s Latin American ambitions, and Rob Fletcher, Founder & Executive Creative Director of Isobel, showcases the latest PlayOJO ad campaign.

For the first time, half of the new issue of SBC Leaders is in Spanish to cater for the audience at SBC Summit Latinoamérica.

The Spanish section includes interviews with a host of high-profile figures in the fast-growing Latin American betting and gaming industry, including Betcris CEO JD Duarte, Galera.bet CEO Marcos Sabiá, and Sebastián Salazar, CEO of EstelarBet.

Readers can also look forward to in-depth coverage of the markets in Brazil and Chile, as well as a look at the potential for affiliates in the region with Laura Gago, Head of Operations for BETANDEAL.

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Entering new territories, withdrawing from a major jurisdiction, attempting to become a public company, and driving continued growth in established markets are just a few of the challenges that have made their way on to his to-do list. It has not only been a busy period for Athanasopoulos and his teams in Athens and Malta, it has also been a successful one. 

Reflecting on recent developments, Athanasopoulos said: “2023 so far has been a remarkable year for Novibet, both in terms of expansion in our global operations, and in terms of growth in all markets.”

Picking out a highlight, he continued: “Novibet embarked on an ambitious endeavour to build its presence in the vibrant Central and South American markets. With limited brand awareness and intense competition across the Atlantic, Novibet took on the challenge head-on, crafting a fantastic international 360° campaign that captivates audiences across Brazil, Ecuador, Chile and Mexico.” 

The campaign included securing the Chilean superstar Arturo Vidal as global brand ambassador, collaborating with iconic goalkeeper Memo Ochoa in Mexico and sponsoring four football clubs in South America. 

The year has not all been about taking market share in the emerging markets of Latin America though, as Novibet has also strengthened its position in its home market of Greece, where NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo and Premier League footballer Kostas Tsimikas linked up with the operator as CSR ambassadors.

“We hope that market conditions will change in favour of a healthy competition between operators”

“The Greek market has been the proving grounds for Novibet,” said Athanasopoulos. “In the last few years we managed to overtake global operators, with brands that used to be household names and product offerings that were perceived as best in class. 

“It takes time to reach the maturity level that Novibet offers today. We invested heavily in our technology, innovated with our product, optimised our CRM recipes, and only then we accelerated to a podium position. We have still room to grow in this market, and expect to do so as momentum is on our side.” 

Novibet is also enjoying growth in Ireland, a market that Athanasopoulos described as being a “long-term play” for the operator. However, the situation in its third European market is more complex.

“Italy is a completely different case. The advertising ban happened very close to our launch, putting us in a dilemma of either cancelling our efforts or planning for a very small market share,” Athanasopoulos explained. 

“We, obviously, did not give up. Given the adjusted return to our investments in this market, we decided to operate a third-party platform and released the internal resources to other opportunities. We hope that market conditions will change in favour of a healthy competition between operators.”

Novibet had also had a presence in Europe’s biggest and most-competitive gambling market, but elected to hand back its UK Gambling Commission licence in 2022. 18 months on, Athanasopoulos is satisfied that was the right decision, but hinted that the company has not yet reached the final chapter of its UK story. 

“Prior to our surrender of the licence, we had been growing at a typical, for Novibet, rate of more than doubling every year. And while our commercial success was delivering on plan, we noticed two very worrisome long-term threats: regulatory challenges and an accompanying black market growth,” said the CEO. 

“Unfortunately and outside of our control, the SPAC market deteriorated”

“We took the very hard decision to focus our efforts and investments in more promising markets, but we haven’t completely written off the UK opportunity. We are monitoring changes, and if a more favourable set of conditions is shown to become the most likely scenario, we would consider reapplying for a licence.”

Private or Public? 

There comes a point in any successful private company’s life when it has to give serious consideration as to whether the allure of the stock market is the right path to support its long-term growth plans. 

In 2022, Novibet’s leadership team decided that it was and announced plans to list on the Nasdaq exchange, via a special purpose acquisition company merger with Artemis Strategic Investment Corporation. However, the deal was terminated in June 2023, leaving the GameTech business still in private ownership. 

While the outcome was, obviously, not what had been hoped for, Athanasopoulos believes the original strategy was correct. 

“The decision for Novibet to become a public company was the right one, at the wrong time. The announced SPAC transaction would have provided us with growth capital and a ticket to become listed on one of the biggest exchanges in the world,” he said. 

“Unfortunately and outside of our control, the SPAC market deteriorated to the point of becoming a negative return for target companies. There are many lessons and anecdotes from this journey, and some are too fresh to discuss publicly. 

“We changed our corporate governance and group structure to become listed-ready, got audited and went through multiple due diligence rounds, and presented our success to the top sector analysts and funds of the world. While most of these achievements are intangible, our organisation matured in a very healthy way.”

“…our view is that the consolidations that are currently taking place internationally are not led by industry experts”

Going Global 

The cancellation of the SPAC deal has done little to quell Novibet’s ambition and it already has plans to enhance its operation in Cyprus and explore opportunities in Oceania. 

It is a strategy that will bring the company into even greater competition with the world’s biggest operators. And as the spread of regulation has created an ever-growing total addressable legal market, those multinational operators have become more aggressive with their M&A tactics in a bid to grab market share.  

So, is that a situation that worries Athanasopoulos? Not particularly. 

“The founders and top management of Novibet have been in this sector for more than 20 years, so we have witnessed the rise and fall of many,” he said. “The fragmentation and expanding regulation in the industry at a global level favours companies that have experience with multi-jurisdiction operations and the ability to deploy scalable technologies when expanding in new markets. 

“Also, given the multitude of unlawful operators currently in the market, having a valid licence and a spotless track record is a ‘sine qua non’ for operators across the globe. Novibet has historically only focused on regulated, or about-to-be regulated, markets.

“We welcome any relevant local efforts, and look forward to working together with regulators – as in the case of Brazil – to create a safe environment for users, culling bad actors and protecting the vulnerable.” 

He added: “As far as the M&A landscape is concerned, our view is that the consolidations that are currently taking place internationally are not led by industry experts, and these M&A efforts are bound to fail, if not initiated by operators themselves. 

“We in Novibet have considered being the buyer in the M&A space, but so far what is on offer is underwhelming, with the market presenting only very limited opportunities that could justify a buy-versus-build dilemma, especially for a company with organic growth rates such as our own.”

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Through the deal, Push Gaming’s entire portfolio of titles, including games such as Goat Getter, Razor Returns and Fat Rabbit, will be made available to Novibet across multiple jurisdictions.

The operator will take the supplier’s content live with Novibet.com and Novibet.mx, with plans to expand to Novibet.gr later this year.

“We’re committed to providing our players with the highest quality entertainment experiences available and adding Push Gaming’s innovative titles to our platform epitomises this aim,” commented Foteini Matthaiou, Casino Product & CRM Director at Novibet.

“It’s a studio that has built a reputation for developing some of the most iconic and popular slots available and we are pleased to be making these games available to our players around the world.”

While the partnership with Novibet helps Push Gaming with its global reach, the supplier is already present across several European markets with the likes of bet365, Entain, Tipico, Betway, Betsson, Svenska Spel and Sky Bet.

Fiona Hickey, Director of New Business and Markets at Push Gaming, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Novibet which will simultaneously expand our reach across multiple jurisdictions.

“This will further solidify our growth in existing markets and expand our presence in the numerous new countries we have entered this year. 

“We’re confident our titles are going to resonate with Novibet’s discerning customers and are thrilled that the partnership will deliver our slots to more players than ever before.”

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Through the deal, NetGaming’s portfolio of games will be distributed across several markets across the globe where Novibet operates, as well as bringing the casino content developer’s titles online in Greece for the first time.

Commenting on the agreement, Pallavi Deshmukh, CEO at NetGaming, said: “I am delighted to see NetGaming games on Novibet. We are proud to partner with one of the top operators in Greece.

“It has been a great collaboration so far and we are looking forward to growing our business with Novibet. 

“With this launch, we add another key regulated market to the growing list of markets we support, including the UK, Georgia, Belgium, Michigan and more to follow.”

Bringing titles that offer a variety of themes, gameplay and mechanics, initial NetGaming games that will be made available to Novibet customers include 3 Wild Jokers, Juicy Gold 100, and Lucky Vault.

Additional new releases will be added to the offering throughout the year, as well as the developer’s full back catalogue.

Foteini Matthaiou, Casino Product & CRM Director at Novibet, added: “We are thrilled to announce our exclusive content deal with NetGaming, for our Greek offering. This partnership marks a significant milestone for Novibet as we further solidify our position as a leading player in the industry, internationally. 

“By joining forces with NetGaming, we are excited to bring an unparalleled selection of innovative and captivating gaming content to our esteemed players. This collaboration aligns perfectly with our commitment to delivering the highest quality entertainment and elevating the gaming experience for our customers.

“We are confident that this exclusive content deal will offer our members an unforgettable entertainment journey filled with excitement and endless possibilities.”

Novibet also recently joined the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming ahead of the market’s regulation.

IBJR was founded earlier this year in March with a goal to help create a ‘sustainable Brazilian market’ by contributing to the country’s gambling market’s development ahead of sports betting being regulated by its government.

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Two payment brands – Pay4Fun and Grupo OKTO – have also joined the IBJR, bringing the total number of members up to 13, ten of which are operators.

Other members of the IBJR include bet365, Betsson Group, Betway Group, Entain, Flutter, KTO Group, Netbet Group, Rei do Pitaco and Yolo Group.

André Gelfi, CEO of the IBJR, commented: “The new members are companies of great prestige in the betting sector, have international expertise in regulated markets and identify with the IBJR’s mission of collaborating with society for a regulated, fair, sustainable market that prioritises sporting integrity and player safety.” 

Founded earlier this year in March, IBJR members aim to help create a ‘sustainable Brazilian market’ by contributing to the Brazilian gambling market’s development ahead of sports betting being regulated by the country’s government later this year.

Regarding the two operators joining the IBJR, LeoVegas has been operating in Brazil since 2019, while Novibet is operational across Latin America in Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Mexico.

Earlier this week, LeoVegas received several B2B licenses for the group’s Blue Guru Games igaming studio and two platforms from Sweden’s gambling authority, Spelinspektionen.

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This will see a range of the online casino content developer’s suite of titles become available via the group, with an integration to be facilitated by EveryMatrix’s CasinoEngine platform.

Under the terms of the agreement, the slots portfolio will not only be accessible for players in Greece, with players across Ireland as well as a “few selected Latin America countries” to also deepen the Spinomenal global footprint.

Foteini Matthaiou, Casino Product and CRM Director at Novibet, stated: “We are extremely excited to showcase the distinctive collection of Spinomenal slot games on Novibet. 

“This collaboration highlights our steadfast commitment to providing our players with an exceptional gaming journey. We firmly believe that Spinomenal will quickly become a highly coveted addition to our extensive range of games.”

The studio, which gained a licence from the Hellenic Gaming Commission earlier in the year, will take a range of titles live with Novibet, which includes Athena’s Glory, Night Wolf – Darkest Flame, Reign of Seth, Pick a Fruit – Fire Blaze, Book of Aphrodite and more.

In addition, the Spinomenal universe, which was detailed in a CasinoBeats 100 Club special earlier in the year, will also be accessible for Novibet players. This most recently welcomed Book of Lucky Jack Baba Yaga’s Tales to its collection.

“Novibet is a top-class operator and we’re happy to add our games to its already strong casino offering,” stated Lior Shvartz, CEO for Spinomenal.

“Greece continues to be a great opportunity for us and integrating our games with Novibet via EveryMatrix is another significant step forward for us.”

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Under this partnership, Relax Gaming will supply its games to another corner of the nation’s igaming space as it hosts its complete games catalogue on Novibet’s Greece-facing online casino platform.

Nadiya Attard, Chief Commercial Officer at Relax Gaming, explained: “We are absolutely thrilled to have signed this deal with Novibet, as one of the top operators in the Greek market partnering with them puts us in a fantastic position to establish ourselves as a market leading supplier.”

Operating across European as well as Latin American markets, Novibet will utilise this collaboration to offer its players slots from the supplier’s collection of “top-performing” releases, including Money Train 2, Temple Tumble 2 and Book of Power. 

Alongside its proprietary slot content, this deal will also see the provision of Relax Gaming’s Silver Bullet slot titles, including third-party releases from the developer’s aggregator partners. 

Foteini Matthaiou, Casino Product & CRM Director at Novibet, added: “All of us at Novibet are excited to see our Greek player base gain access to some of the most popular titles on the market. 

“We are delighted to kick-start this successful partnership together, which also includes the exclusive offer of Money Train 2 on our platform.”

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