This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Stephaniefiteni (talk | contribs) at 17:35, 8 April 2016 (These changes have been supplied to me directly by the Betsson Group's Communications Director and updates were required because the Betsson Malta Page history was confused with the Betsson AB story. We will be adding more accurate official content.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 17:35, 8 April 2016 by Stephaniefiteni (talk | contribs) (These changes have been supplied to me directly by the Betsson Group's Communications Director and updates were required because the Betsson Malta Page history was confused with the Betsson AB story. We will be adding more accurate official content.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) | |
| Trade name | Nasdaq Stockholm: Betsson B |
|---|---|
| Company type | Publicly traded (Aktiebolag) |
| Industry | Online gambling (Holding company) |
| Founded | Sweden (December 3, 1963 (1963-12-03)) |
| Founder | Bill Lindwall and Rolf Lundström |
| Headquarters | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Brands | betsson.com betsafe.com casinoeuro.com nordicbet.com krooncasino.com and more |
| Revenue | Euro 402.3 M SEK 3,722 M (2015) |
| Operating income | Euro 95.8 M SEK 886.4 M (2015) |
| Number of employees | 1800 |
| Subsidiaries | Betsson Malta Ltd |
| Website | betssonab |
| Footnotes / references Annual Report 2015 | |
Betsson AB is Sweden’s largest online gaming company offering a large number of gambling products from casino games to sports betting and scratch cards. From humble beginnings in 1963, the company is now listed on the NASDAQ Stockholm stock exchange with a revenue of in excess of €420 million, with offices across Europe.
Corporate history
The foundations of Betsson AB were laid in 1963 with the creation of AB Restaurang Rouletter a company built by Bill Lindwall and Rolf Lundström, which began operating with a single slot machine. The company soon expanded throughout Southern and Central Sweden from where it grew to operate nationally in a strategic partnership with AB Roulett Konsult & Spelautomater in 1968.
In 1972, the company changed its name to Cherryföretagen AB incorporating the well-known cherry symbol. Laws allowing restaurants licenced to serve wine, to also offer slot machines which pay out winnings in Swedish Krona, saw the company take over 55 per cent of the slot machine market.
In 1978, the Swedish parliament banned slot machines which essentially wiped out the company’s core business before an extensive reorganisation was carried out and by 1984, the Cherry group of companies acquired several Swedish gaming companies, financing the move with a new share issue.
This provided the base to extend business into Eastern Europe where in 1992 political developments resulted in big losses for the companies which in turn led to the reduction of services and the concentration of gaming operations in Sweden and on ships in Scandinavia.
By 1993, the companies were turning a profit once again and in 1998, Cherry acquired a 35 per cent share in Net Entertainment AB, a company founded by Pontus Lindwall. A year later, Cherry acquires First Casino and begins operating on board ships in the Mediterranean while excess liquidity was invested into the internet.
In 2003, Cherry buys into British sports betting company, Betsson.com and by 2004, Net Entertainment makes significant progress and revenues within the online operation increasing by 100 per cent. Net Entertainment acquires an operating licence in Malta and experienced strong growth leading up to revenue of 1 Billion SEK (€107.7 million) in 2008.
Betsson launches sports book gaming for mobile phones and wins the Most Responsible Gaming Operator award at the EGR awards.
In 2011, saw the launch of a joint venture in China while Betsson acquired its fast-growing competitor Betsafe and a year later further expansion saw the acquisition of another competitor, Nordic Gaming Group leading to the Online Sportsbook Operator of the Year award by the International Gaming Awards.
Further acquisitions saw the company added to the NASDAQ OMX Large Cap list following the market value of the company’s shares being greater than €2 billion.
In 2015, the company made one of its largest acquisitions to date, the Georgia based, Europe-Bet.
By the end of the third quarter in 2015, Betsson had more than 8.8 million registered customers.
Products
Betsson Malta Operated a number of Online Gaming websites.
Business acquisitions
In 2011 the company acquired all of the shares in the Betsafe Group for SEK 292 M. The aim of the acquisition was to increase Betsson's market presence and enable continued growth. The acquisition grew Betsson's number of customers to approximately 419,000 — surpassing Unibet in the number of active players. That same year Betsson signed an agreement with a Chinese state-owned company regarding the development of joint-owned gaming operations.
In 2014 Betsson acquired the Dutch casino brands Oranje and Kroon. As a result of the great growth and the steady performance, Betsson got upgraded to the NASDAQ Stockholm Large Cap List, as of January 1, 2015.
In 2015, Betsson acquired the Georgian sports-betting and casino brand Europe-Bet .
References
- "2015 Annual Report" (PDF). Betsson AB. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- "Annual Report 2011" (PDF). Betsson AB. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- "Betsson i ledande roll" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
External links
- Betsson AB Corporate information