Major deal ahead for online gambling software provider
News on 14 Dec 2009
News on 14 Dec 2009
The Dublin-based commercial division of Internet gambling software provider Cryptologic is gearing up to sign an important deal with the multi-national internet sports betting operator Betclic, according to Irish Times reports over the weekend. The firm is also preparing to launch a series of new games in partnership with multinationals DC Comics and Paramount Digital Entertainment.
The newspaper claims that Cryptologic will soon add Betclic to an impressive roll call of clients that includes top operators like Paddy Power, Victor Chandler, Totesport and Betfair. The deal will see Malta-regulated Betclic, a member of the French Mangas Gaming group, adding online casino action to its mainly sports-betting Internet offering.
Signing up Betclic is something of a coup; the company has businesses in 15 countries and, according to the most recent figures, has about 1.5 million customers.
Betclic is also working on developing its poker and casino offerings, which have become a standard part of online betting businesses, the Irish Times adds.
The agreement between Cryptologic and Betclic is likely to be announced later this week, making Betclic the 30th licencee recruited by Cryptologic since it switched focus from operating its own online casino business to developing and selling software to other operators.
The Irish company has partnerships with DC Comics and Paramount Digital Entertainment – parent of Paramount Pictures – and develops games using both multinational groups’ characters . Among its latest releases are DC Comics hero Superman as well as Braveheart from Paramount’s biopic of Scottish rebel William Wallace, which starred Mel Gibson.
Cryptologic switched its emphasis under the leadership of current chief executive Brian Hadfield. A writedown in the value of a number of Asian investments meant the company made a loss of about Euro 7 million before tax in the first six months of 2009, the newspaper reports.
However, the company said in August that it returned to profitability in June, and added that it was on target to generate a surplus in the second half of the year.
