Yolo launches €100m fund, EGBA cautions on Italian changes, Corvex moves on Entain

Business and regulation seemed to be in focus in the pre-holiday week, with the industry going at full throttle before the festive mood and cheer set in. This is the week in review as reported by Casino Guru News.

The top stories of the week had to do with several prominent companies, starting with Entain and Corvex Management. Amid what has been described as a small internal revolt, and the open dissatisfaction of activist investors, the company’s Chief Executive Officer Jette Nygaard-Andersen decided to step down last week.

Yet, this is not the end of the changes underway at the heart of the British gaming and entertainment giant as Corvex Management, a prominent investor in the gambling sector with influence in Kindred Group as well as now Entain, has secured a 4.4% stake in the company, and is hoping to quash discontent by enacting changes and influencing the course of the company towards a more value-added proposition.

Corvex Management criticized management over their investment and acquisition strategy that yielded little added value for shareholders and investors, the hedge fund said in a statement. Speaking of investment

Yolo Investment, the investment vessel of Yolo Group, has announced that it is launching a new flagship fund that will fuel its investment drive. Apart from investing in blockchain, gaming, and fintech, Yolo Fund II LP will also pursue growth in emerging technologies, such as renewables.

Part of the funding will be secured through general partners, and the other through a capital funding round, for a total of €100m. The previous fund launched by the company was announced in 2019, and it has been hailed a success with more than €600m worth of assets under management.

Regulatory Jitters and More Changes to Gambling Frameworks

The European Gaming and Betting Association has weighed in on the ongoing debate in Italy involving new changes to the country’s gambling regulation, which will dramatically increase the payable licensee fees if passed. A suggested €7m fee has been pitched by the government in a bid to drive tax revenue windfall.

EGBA has cautioned and advised a more lenient approach that would ensure that the extra money that lawmakers are after will be secured without worsening the competitiveness of the market, or channelling more players into black market operations. The Association said that it’s prepared to collaborate with the Italian government to see this through.

Meanwhile, the UK Gambling Commission has suggested a new 15% penalty calculated on offending gambling companies’ gross gaming yield that could have serious implications for the future of the industry.

The regulator has put a consultation out for a new measure to assess the severity of offenses by licensed companies in the sector, and also proposed an increase of the maximum applicable penalty in the most severe cases to 15% GGY.

The UKGC has been actively involved in overhauling the country’s regulatory regime to provide better enforcement and consumer protection at a time of heightened interest in responsible and sustainable play.

Meanwhile, Australia is attacking consumer protection from an entirely different angle, with New South Wales looking to expand its ongoing cashless gaming trial to now include 4,000 machines across 28 clubs and hotels.

The trial is designed to help assess whether this technology can actually be of use to the authorities and regulators in protecting consumers and stemming the tide of crime associated with money laundering.

The Big Shifts This Week

Holiday season or not, there have been momentous shifts in the gambling industry landscape this week. For one, Gaming Innovation Group finalized the acquisition of Time2Play Media for €35m, one of the most significant acquisitions of an affiliate company by the revamped GiG. The Group wants to maintain an edge in casino affiliation in the North American region, and Time2Play is key to that.

Speaking of online gaming, iGaming in New Jersey has indeed been driving steady revenue and results. The most recent results from November in the Garden State indicate that Internet gambling hit $171.6m, outstripping last year’s results over the same period.

Slots and table games played online have been a perpetual source of revenue for casinos in New Jersey, and the trend is an upswing. Meanwhile, tribal leaders in California cautioned that an attempt by private companies to put a sports betting measure on the ballot next year would not find support among tribes and is therefore very likely to fail.

The California Nationals Indian Gaming Association further stressed the importance of not acting high-handedly in this matter as a routing during the 2024 ballot could significantly slow down efforts to legalize sports gambling in the state. It’s not very likely, however, that this will dissuade the sponsors of the measure.

Stake.com, a global gaming and betting company, has confirmed that it is expanding in Latin America and Colombia. The Stake.com.co domain will be rolled out with the help of TG Lab, which is also a first mover in the region.

Not least, we end the week with BetMGM and the NHL expanding their partnership and vowing to bring even more consumer-focused experiences. Among those are new planned casino games.

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