The recently announced purchase of the much larger bwin.party entertainment by much smaller British company GVC Holdings is expected to have repercussions on both sides of the Atlantic.
A report in eGaming Review, an online gaming newsletter, said that Borgata officials are drawing up a “Plan B” in case GVC can’t get licensed in New Jersey. There are some questions whether another GVC acquisition, Sportingbet, behaved in the U.S. prior to and after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed in 2006. GVC has been active in grey and black markets, so some experts believe that licensing could be difficult in New Jersey and Canada, where the bwin.party brands are popular.
While a GVC spokesman expressed confidence that the company would be licensed by New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement, GVC CEO Kenneth Alexander said he wasn’t concerned about the New Jersey deal with Borgata since the acquisition was more about getting control of bwin.party’s technology “and not for the U.S.”
Borgata owns 45 percent of a joint venture with bwin.party and uses the company’s platform for its poker and casino iGaming site. eGR reports that Borgata has already begun negotiations with other technology providers if the GVC licensing hits a hurdle. Borgata is 50-50 joint venture between Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts.
GVC battled 888 Holdings for nearly six months before it won the bid for bwin, paying nearly $1.6 billion for the iGaming giant.
