Each week, CasinoBeats breaks down the numbers behind some of the industry’s most interesting stories. This week’s edition looks at a significant fine for one of the UK’s largest operators, as well as a new acquisition for Cherry.
5%
Cherry has signed an agreement to acquire the remaining five per cent of shares in high-profile affiliate company Game Lounge, thus gaining 100 per cent ownership.
The purchase consideration consists of three parts, with Cherry already owning 95 per cent of the Swedish firm, and can amount to a maximum of SEK260m (€25.2m).
The sellers are employees of Game Lounge, and against this background, the acquisition constitutes a so-called related-party transaction. This means that it must be approved by a general meeting in Cherry.
Cherry’s Board of Directors will prepare a written account of the acquisition and obtain an independent valuation statement (fairness opinion) regarding Game Lounge.
The operations in Game Lounge have developed well and Cherry’s board of directors makes the assessment that the company will continue to enjoy favourable market conditions into the future and that it is therefore desirable to increase Cherry’s holding to 100 per cent. The sellers will remain in their senior positions, are shareholders in Cherry and also participate in incentive program within the Cherry Group.
€317,849.78
The MPN’s Fish Party €20 jackpot has been hit for a massive €317,849.78 prize.
The jackpot was hit a few minutes after midnight on Wednesday, October 17, setting the biggest win on the network since the game launched in July, 2016.
The substantial prize pool will be shared across one Betsson Group and two RedKings players, who took part in the three-seater Sit & Go tournament with a €20 buy-in.
A RedKings player, alias SipsCommin, took the top spot and the largest portion of the prize pool worth €158,924.89. Betsson Group player, Check_Norris, came second with €95,354.93, followed by grndonlck in third place, also RedKings, who won €63,569.96.
To date, the Fish Party jackpot has been hit 22 times, paying out more than €1.2m in prizes. This latest win marks the third time the jackpot has been won in the last three months and the ninth in 2018.
Alex Scott, managing director of Poker at Microgaming, commented: “What an exciting three-handed battle this was, congratulations to the winners! Our unique Fish Party progressive jackpot SNG has now awarded over €1.2m in jackpot prizes, a milestone we are very proud of. At this rate it won’t be long until we hit €2m! I can’t wait to see who the next winners are.”
$1m
Philadelphia’s SugarHouse Casino has continued its annual contribution to the Penn Treaty Special District, with the presentation of a $1m cheque during this week’s Penn Treaty SSD Community Service Awards.
Bringing its total contribution to Penn Treaty SSD to $6.7m since 2009, the various grants subsequently get distributed to benefit residents of Olde Richmond, Fishtown, South Kensington and Northern Liberties.
Cheryl Duhon, general manager of SugarHouse Casino, stated: “SugarHouse is proud to continue to support and partner with the Penn Treaty SSD.
“It has done a wonderful job of consistently working to better our community, and we are glad to contribute to these projects.”
£2.2m
Paddy Power Betfair has been fined £2.2m after an investigation by the Gambling Commission found that the UK operator was guilty of various social responsibility shortcomings.
The UKGC investigation brought to light that the firm had failed to intervene when a bettor played with large sums of stolen charity money on its site, as well as falling short when it comes to protecting customers that are showing signs of problem gambling.
In a statement, the Gambling Commission’s Executive Director, Richard Watson emphasised: “As a result of Paddy Power Betfair’s failings significant amounts of stolen money flowed through their exchange and this is simply not acceptable. Operators have a duty to all of their customers to seek to prevent the proceeds of crime from being used in gambling.
“These failings all stem from one simple principle – operators must know their customer. If they know their customer and ask the right questions then they place themselves in a strong position to meet their anti-money laundering and social responsibility obligations.”
£40m
UK bingo operator Gala Leisure has announced that it has completed its full £40m makeover to Buzz Bingo.
Gala Leisure, the former bingo subsidiary of Gala Coral, which was sold to private equity firm Caledonia Investments in December 2015 for £240m, will now operate its 103 UK clubs under the Buzz Bingo name.
Furthermore, this week sees the UK bingo operator launch its new online bingo portal Buzzbingo.com powered by Playtech, with the FTSE250 technology group acting as lead omni-channel systems provider.
