FEATURE
“We are currently working on a Mexican licence, and as
more states in the US open up, that’s definitely going to
be within our sights.”
taking a CA$100m worth of stock. During
the earn-outs for all our acquisitions, the
companies are very incentivised to knock
it out of the park. If you look at our Q4
results, you will get an indication of what
our companies are doing and how well we
are doing, and the markets we are in, and
how well the acquisitions have gone so far.
Canada is a hotbed of iGamingrelated leveraged buyouts and
reverse transactions. at the
moment. How important has this
environment been to Intertain’s
ability to acquire and realise its
growth strategy?
I think as long as Keith and I continue to
execute on our model and deliver results,
then the capital markets will be very
receptive to our business. It comes down to
execution, and if you execute and you’re
profitable, you’ve got a following of people
that are making money with you, and that
then tends to bring more money with it as
well.
You’ve acquired diverse businesses
with different models, platforms,
markets, office/team locations etc. Will
there be any reorganisation to take
advantage of potential synergies, or
keep them running as they are?
We will keep them as they are. Why mess
with something that works? We look at
the revenue synergies as opposed to the
cost synergies. So, to look at a lot of our
competition, they base their acquisitions on
gaming and cost synergies, so maybe getting
rid of a platform, or integrating some
people. But my philosophy again is different
from my peers. I think running successful
businesses with their own P&L is the right
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iGB Affiliate Issue 50 APR/MAY 2015
way to proceed. You look at the likes of
bwin.party, they tried to integrate software
and people, and look at the difficulties that
came with that. My view is, let’s focus on
the revenue synergies moving forward and
not the
cost synergies.
Which new markets are you
looking at?
The Netherlands is looking to regulate next
year. We will be leading into that market
with Costa. There’s also slots in Spain
launching this year. We are number one for
online bingo in Spain with Botemania, so
we are very much looking forward to the
introduction of slots there. Also, organically
with the existing business, we can do quite
well in jurisdictions in which we are in.
So, we are really well placed. Vera&John
is a great global brand as well, and what I
love about them is that they have bingo as
part of their DNA. They founded Maria
Bingo, and that really gives us great depth
in terms of expanding our bingo business.
Alongside Intercasino and Jackpotjoy, those
are the brands we are going to really focus
our attention on. I think it’s important to
understand we have a substantial base of
business in the global pond. And I love
the fact we are looking at expanding our
markets, because most of our business
comes from the UK, Spain and Sweden.
As markets open up from a regulatory
standpoint, we will go into those markets on
a big way.
Intertain’s business is almost
entirely European-focused. Do
you have any plans for the North
American markets, and if so, what
form are these likely to take?
That’s because we’ve established our base
business there. Obviously, those markets
are more mature, they are in the process
of being regulated or are regulated, and
as other countries around the world
regulate, we are going to go in and attack
those markets. In Canada, there’s no real
opportunity at the moment. There are
options in the US, in terms of New Jersey
and others, which we can go into, but I think
globally there are some better markets that
exist right now, that are better for us initially.
But we have our eye on the North American
marketplace. We are currently working
on a Mexican licence, and as more states
in the US open up, that’s definitely going
to be within our sights. What’s important
also is having the regulatory profile that we
do, with most of our revenue coming from
regulated markets. I think that will help us
from a competitive standpoint, in terms of
potentially getting into those markets.
Which brand or brands would you
look to go into Mexico with?
We are discussing that now, but obviously
with the brand awareness that Jackpotjoy
has with it, and we are trying to build that
business up globally, I think you will see us
leading forward with Jackpotjoy under our
bingo-led business, and on the casino-led
business, we would be looking
at Intercasino.
You’ve undertaken four big
acquisitions in quick succession.
Can we expect this activity to
continue or will the near term
focus be strictly on growing
organically?
I’m going to have a breather next week
when I’m on family vacation! That said, I
am always looking