GVC Holdings

GVC Holdings PLC (LSE:GVC) is a British sports betting and gambling company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.[2]

GVC Holdings plc
Public
Traded asLSE: GVC
ISINIM00B5VQMV65
IndustryOnline gambling
PredecessorBwin.Party Digital Entertainment
Ladbrokes Coral
Founded2004 (as Gaming VC Holdings S.A.)
HeadquartersDouglas, Isle of Man
Key people
Barry Gibson, Chairman
Kenny Alexander, Chief Executive Officer
Revenue€3,655.1 million (2019)[1]
€520.0 million (2019)[1]
€(140.7) million (2019)[1]
Websitewww.gvc-plc.com

History

The company was founded in Luxembourg in 2004 as Gaming VC Holdings. In 2010, it was reorganised as GVC Holdings.[3]

In 2012 GVC and William Hill bought Sportingbet, with William Hill taking the Australian and Spanish markets, and GVC taking the rest of the world.[4]

GVC acquired Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment in 2016 for £1.1bn after a bidding battle with rival gambling group 888 Holdings, leading to a marked recovery in GVC's financial situation.[5][6][7] Since the acquisition, bwin.party has returned to growth after many years of falling sales.[8]

In December 2017, GVC Holdings agreed to buy Ladbrokes Coral in a deal which could be worth up to £4 billion.[9] The acquisition was completed in March 2018.[10]

In mid-2018 a shareholder rebellion forced out GVC director, Peter Isola, after reports showed that two executives at the company earned a disproportionate £67 million in salary.[11]

In July 2018, the UK owner of Ladbrokes and Coral agreed a $200 million deal with MGM Resorts to capitalise on the newly liberalised US sports betting market.[12]

On March 22, 2019, GVC confirmed that chairman Lee Feldman would leave the company on or before the company's annual general meeting on June 5.[13] While Feldman was overdue to leave under UK corporate governance code that recommends chairs of listed companies not stay in position longer than nine years, the news came two weeks after Feldman sold £6m worth of his GVC shares and CEO Kenny Alexander sold shares worth £13.7m, which led to GVC's share price falling nearly 14% in a single day.[14] Barry Gibson took over as Chairman upon Lee Feldman's departure.[15]

Operations

GVC Holdings is headquartered in the Isle of Man and has licences in more than 18 countries. The Group employs over 28,000 employees and contractors in locations across Europe, Asia, North and South America.[16]

GVC-owned brands

GVC operates consumer-facing brands in the online gambling industry, including:

Sports labels

Ladbrokes Coral Group

As of 29 March 2018, GVC Holdings took over the Ladbrokes Coral group. This includes the UK Ladbrokes and Coral bookmaker estate, a new business for GVC.[9]

bwin

bwin is GVC's main sports betting brand. Its core markets include Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Belgium. As well as sports bets, bwin has a variety of table and slot casino games as well as online poker. The bwin brand has been associated with sponsorship of a number of football teams including Real Madrid,[17] A.C. Milan, Bayern Munich, Manchester Utd and Juventus.[18][19][20][21] The brand currently sponsors four Spanish La Liga clubs: Valencia CF, Villarreal CF, Sevilla FC and Atlético Madrid.[22]

In February 2018, GVC Holdings was fined £350,000 by the UK Gambling Commission for repeated failings from its bwin operated ElectraWorks Limited subsidiary. The company was punished for infringements relating to the advertising of free bets and bonus offers.[23]

Sportingbet

Sportingbet was established over 15 years ago in 1998 and was acquired by GVC in March 2013. It provides online and mobile sports betting, casinos, games and poker. In October 2012, Sportingbet announced that it had agreed to preliminary terms for a £530 million takeover bid from both GVC and William Hill. Under these terms, Sportingbet's Australian and Spanish operations were bought by William Hill.[24]

Betboo

Betboo was established in 2005 and provides online bingo, sportsbook, casino and poker to South American customers. It was acquired by the GVC Group in July 2009.[25]

Gamebookers

Gamebookers is a full-service sportsbook that was initially acquired by PartyGaming in 2006.[26] GVC then acquired the brand in February 2016 as part of the acquisition of bwin.party.[27]

VistaBet

Neds

Neds was established in 2017 and serves the Australian sports betting market. It was acquired by GVC in 2018 for $A95 million.[28]

Games labels

partypoker

partypoker was founded in 2001 and in the early 2000s was the world's largest online poker site. The company's US-driven revenues were hit by the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in the United States. The company merged with Austrian sport's betting company bwin in 2011, and was acquired by GVC in 2015.[29] In 2016 partypoker launched a windows mobile app and saw significant growth after bwin.party was acquired by GVC in the same year.[30][31]

partycasino

Following the 2011 merger of PartyGaming PLC and bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, partycasino became one of GVC's leading casino brands.[32]

CasinoClub

CasinoClub was originally launched in 2001 and acquired by GVC in 2004, it largely operates in German-speaking markets and has more than 15,000 active customers.[33]

Gioco Digitale

Gioco Digitale was the first fully regulated gambling site on the Italian market launched in 2008. It has positioned itself as a gambling portal for casual users, with a focus on bingo and casino products. The company was originally acquired by bwin Interactive Entertainment AG in 2009.[34]

Cashcade

Cashcade Ltd is a UK-based online gambling marketing company that is now a wholly owned subsidiary of GVC Holdings. Cashcade was originally acquired by PartyGaming PLC in July 2009.[35] The company became part of the GVC group when it was purchased as part of the acquisition of bwin.party digital entertainment in February 2017. Cashcade owns FoxyCasino.com and FoxyBingo.com as well as a portfolio of other brands such as Cheeky and Think Bingo websites.[36]

Foxy Bingo

This online bingo site was first launched in 2005 and the brand is owned by Cashcade. During its advertising history it has had many campaigns featuring Foxy - a human-sized fox mascot. He wears a smart suit and has a northern accent. Throughout its brand history, there have been several celebrity tie-ups including with Katie Price and Joey Essex.[37][38]

Foxy Casino

Foxy Casino was established April 2015 and is the slots-led counterpart of its sister brand Foxy Bingo. It has over 300 slot games that are powered by Dragonfish, the B2B arm of 888 Holdings. In 2017, Foxy Casino also rebranded with Heather Graham as the new face of the casino brand.[39][40]

References
  1. "Preliminary Results 2019" (PDF). GVC Holdings. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  2. "FTSE UK Index Series: Quarterly Review June 2020". 3 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  3. Financial Report 2010 (PDF) (Report). GVC Holdings. 5 April 2011. p. 16. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  4. Martin, Ben (21 December 2012). William Hill clashes with Playtech over Sportingbet deal. The Daily Telegraph.
  5. Cook, David (5 January 2016). "It's a date: BwinParty confirms the day GVC will take the reins". Gambling Insider. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  6. Fletcher, Nick (20 September 2016). Gaming group GVC boosted by Bwin takeover. The Guardian.
  7. Moore, Malcolm (4 September 2015). GVC clinches £1.1bn deal for Bwin. Financial Times.
  8. Martin, Ben (5 January 2016). "Bwin returns to growth as GVC takeover nears completion". The Daily Telegraph
  9. "Ladbrokes Coral bought by online rival GVC". BBC News. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  10. "Scheme of Arrangement becomes effective" (Press release). GVC Holdings. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  11. Kollewe, Julia (7 June 2018). "Pay revolt at Ladbrokes owner GVC forces director to quit role". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  12. Smithers, Rebecca (30 July 2018). "Ladbrokes owner agrees $200m deal with MGM Resorts". Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  13. Hancock, Alice. "Betting group GVC seeks new chair after sell-off from current one". Financial Times. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  14. "Ladbrokes-owner GVC Holdings' shares drop 18 pct after top bosses..." Reuters. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  15. "GVC Holdings confirms Barry Gibson as new Chairman". SBC News. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  16. Lynch, Russell (7 April 2017). Kenny Alexander: The poker-playing GVC boss itching to get chips in middle when takeover cards are dealt. The Evening Standard.
  17. (29 September 2009). Real Madrid extends Bwin tie-up BBC News Online
  18. (16 February 2010). bwin to Lose AC Milan Shirt Sponsorship Next Season. GamingIntelligence.com.
  19. (24 September 2014). Bayern extend deal with bwin. FCBayern.com.
  20. (16 August 2012). Manchester United in sponsorship deal with Bwin. BBC News Online.
  21. Weir, Keith (July 13, 2013). Bwin adds Italy's Juventus to soccer sponsorship ranks. Reuters.com.
  22. (3 March 2017). bwin agrees further betting partnerships in Spain’s La Liga. GamingIntelligence.com.
  23. Gambling Business Fined for Advertising Failures
  24. (16 October 2012). GVC, William Hill agree Sportingbet takeover terms. Reuters.com.
  25. "Gaming VC buys Betboo". Bookmakers Review. 11 July 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  26. Allen, Katie (3 August 2006). PartyGaming buys sports site Gamebookers. The Guardian.
  27. Wilson, Harry (August 28, 2015). GVC looks to crash Bwin.party takeover. The Times.
  28. (22 November 2018). GVC expands Australian presence with $95m Neds acquisition. iGaming Business.
  29. History and Information About Party Poker. iGaming.org.
  30. Hannah, Martin (14 January 2016). Partypoker launches dedicated Windows app. EGR
  31. Washtell, Francesca (20 September 2016). Party Poker and Foxy Bingo owner GVC Holdings posts record results as Bwin integration steams ahead and company joins FTSE 250 City A.M.
  32. (26 May 2016). GVC unveils revamped partycasino.com site. gamingintelligence.com.
  33. LSE | Prices & Markets | Stocks | Description of the Business: GVC Holdings Plc. londonstockexchange.com.
  34. Wauters, Robin (Sept 7, 2009). Consolidation in online gambling: bwin acquires Italy's Gioco Digitale. TechCrunch.
  35. (24 July 2009) PartyGaming Buys CashCade. igamingbusiness.com.
  36. Sweeney, Mark (23 July 2009). Independent News & Media sells Cashcade stake to PartyGaming. The Guardian.
  37. Aron, Isabelle (January 05, 2015). Foxy brings in Joey Essex for PR push. PR Week.
  38. (4 February 2011). New ad campaign from Foxy Bingo. The Drum.
  39. Menmuir, Ted (April 2, 2015). Foxy Bingo unveils new casino offering – FoxyCasino.com. SBC News
  40. Edmonds, Lizzie (6 March 2017). Heather Graham: You’re not told Leonardo DiCaprio’s age when you read about him, so why mine?. The Evening Standard.
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