European Operators Line up Software Providers

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With some European countries on the brink of legalization and regulation of online gambling, the operators and potential licensees are getting prepared by tying up with software providers. This week there is news from Spain, Greece and Denmark in this regard.

Microgaming, the world's largest provider of online gaming software, has announced via a press release from its headquarters in Isle of Man that it has signed up with casino operator CIRSA. CIRSA is a household name in the Spanish online gambling market. With legalization round the corner in Spain, CIRSA was searching for a B2B partner. It opted for the Microgaming platform because of the company's global experience and reputation for high quality and innovative online gaming content. Microgaming will provide CIRSA with online casino, poker and bingo software along with administrative services. A spokesperson for CIRSA said, "We are delighted our players will be able to enjoy the world's most popular and exciting games and look forward to a long and happy working relationship." Roger Raatgever, CEO of Microgaming, also expressed satisfaction at working with CIRSA. He said that Microgaming had developed a wealth of experience over the past 15 years and looked forward to making CIRSA the complete one stop shop in gaming entertainment. Microgaming is already providing software to online gaming operators in newly regulated markets in France and Italy.

In Greece the state owned gambling monopoly has already been granted special benefits ahead of potential regulation, including extension of its contract to 2020. Its contract with the existing software provider Intralot comes to an end in the middle of 2012. So as to avoid criticism of historical favoritism towards Intralot, OPAP was compelled to call for tenders on the contract. OPAP has now confirmed that there have been responses from two suppliers to the tender. One is Intralot, which will be looking to renew its contract. The other is GTECH. A third contender Scientific Games Corp was excluded by OPAP earlier this year. OPAP has committed to announcing its final choice of supplier within the next two months. The selection of a new supplier is critical to OPAP's future strategy, which includes expansion in video lotto and online betting. The board of OPAP recently agreed to make a €935 million payment to the Greek Government for an exclusive license to operate 35,000 video lotto machines.

In Denmark the online sports betting and gaming group Sportingbet Plc has announced a conditional binding agreement to acquire the Danish online betting operations SHL, Danbook Limited and Scandic Bookmakers Limited through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Sportingbet Holdings Limited and Interactive Sports Limited. Both Danbook and Scandic provide Danish customers online fixed odds sports betting, casino, poker and games in the unregulated scenario.

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