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// PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // May/June 2016
Dutch Lottery Merger Completed
Dutch national lottery operators Staatsloterij
and De Lotto have finalized their merger. In
its new form, Staatsloterij and De Loto will
maintain its existing brand portfolio, which
includes lottery products Toto, Lucky Day,
Krasloten, EuroJackpot, and Miljoenenspel.
The new enterprise will be led by Staat-
sloterij Chief Executive Frans van Steenis,
with De Loto’s former MD Claire Lurvink
taking over as CFO. The Dutch ministers
who approved the merger estimated that
a unified lottery operator could generate
revenues of + €1 billion. The merger comes
as the Netherlands awaits the legalization of
online gambling services, which will open
the market to international operators.
INTRALOT Signs Extension Contract
with the Netherlands Staatsloterij/
De Lotto Lottery Operator
Nederlandse Staatsloterij/De Lotto an-
nounced their merger and the establishment
of a new gaming entity. The extension con-
tract has a three-year term, until April 2019,
with an option to extend for one additional
year. The extension of the contract follows
an initial successful six-year operation, which
was sealed in 2008 after a dual international
tender conducted by both lotteries. Under
the terms of the extension contract, INTRA-
LOT will continue to provide its best-in-class
LOTOSTM O/S platform, along with the
related services, connected to its 5,000 pro-
prietary terminals, blended in a unique tailor
made POS solution for the Dutch Lotteries.
De Nederlandse Staatsloterij and De Lotto
currently operate jointly a wide portfolio of
games, including traditional lottery games
(“Staatsloterij” and “Miljoenenspel”); numer-
ical games (“Lotto,” “Eurojackpot,” “Lucky
Day”), a full Sportsbook branded “Toto”
(including Fixed Odds betting and Poolgame
“Toto-13”) and Instant Tickets. These games
are offered both in retail and online.
Danske Lotteri Spil A/S Extends
Instant Ticket Printing Contract
with Pollard Banknote
“We have developed a very strong partner-
ship with Pollard Banknote, utilizing many
of the company’s tactical marketing strategies
and imaginative product innovations,”
said
Henrik Greve Jensen, Product Development
Manager, Danske Lotteri Spil A/S.
“We look
forward to building on the success we have
already achieved together.”
Greece to Regulate On-Line Gambling
The Greek government will introduce an en-
tirely regulated market for online gambling
to supplant the existing temporary licensing
approach. There will be strict regulatory
measures and higher taxes. The Greek Parlia-
ment announced that the GGR rate will be
increased to 35% from the current 30%.
Three Bidders Hope to Acquire Sisal
Sisal, the No. 2 gaming company in Italy, is
being sold. The three bidders in the competi-
tion to acquire Sisal are all private equity
companies: Bain Capital, Apollo, and CVC.
The bidders have been granted permis-
sion to review Sisal’s financial information
before submitting offers by May 15. Sisal
has a significant presence in both the live
and online sports betting markets. Sports
betting contributed significantly to Sisal’s
revenues, with the Italian market growing by
24.7 percent in 2015. The March revenue
figures issued by regulator AAMS show Sisal
ranked fourth for online sports betting with
monthly revenue of €23.4 million ($26.8
million). Sisal’s 2015 revenues of €787 mil-
lion ($901 million) may signal a purchase
price of more than €1 billion ($1.15 billion).
First Novomatic Lottery Solutions
‘NLS Experience’ Takes Place in Vienna
“We are a company that strives to bring people
together from across the globe sharing the same
values, innovative spirit and the drive to move
the lottery industry forward and provide our
customers with up to date technology and ser-
vices that will help to improve their contribu-
tion to the good causes they in turn serve,”
said
Frank Cecchini, the CEO of NLS. CEOs
and CTOs from lotteries across Europe were
invited to attend a series of presentations,
demonstrations and active discussions on the
future of lottery technology. The event was
moderated by the now retired former CEO
of Austrian Lotteries and former President
of The European Lotteries Association, Mr.
Friedrich Stickler. Harald Neumann, the
CEO of NOVOMATIC, in his welcome
note emphasized the complete commitment
of the whole company to its lottery divi-
sion and the strategic importance of NLS
within the Group. The participants spent
two days learning about NLS’ lottery vision,
the philosophy behind its products as well
as its passion for innovation and technology.
Demonstrations provided a hands-on experi-
ence of a true Omni-Channel approach.
NOVOMATIC Achieves Highest
Turnover Since the Group’s Formation
In fiscal year 2015, NOVOMATIC AG
recruited some 1,900 new employees and
increased turnover by 5.5% to a new record
high of more than EUR 2 billion. The largest
gains were generated from proceeds in the
area of gaming technology rentals, which
increased by 7.9% to EUR 594.7 million.
Novomatic Lottery Solutions (NLS)
Launches its Omni-Channel Lottery
System for Loteria de Catalunya
This solution integrates the Catalonian
Lottery’s sales network across retail, internet
and mobile, delivering technology that gives
the Lottery’s customers access to its products
from any channel. The system supports all
existing games, such as ‘Loto Rapid, ‘6/49,’
‘Trio,’ ‘Super 10’ and ‘La Grossa,’ and new
scratch card games that were specifically de-
veloped by the local team for the local mar-
ket. NLS, a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Novomatic Group, has its roots in Iceland
and employs more than 300 people in seven
locations across Europe and the U.S.
Australia Goes after Unlicensed
iGaming Providers
Australia is blocking in-play betting by in-
troducing what they call “disruption” tactics