Aussie online gambling group in trouble?
News on 12 Jun 2016
News on 12 Jun 2016
The Melbourne, Australia based online gambling group Favourit Global, which has launched and operated international sites since 2012 under UK Gambling Commission, Ireland, Curacao and Malta Gaming Authority licenses, has informed players and affiliate marketers that it has ceased trading as of June 10 and may be going into external administration in the near future.
Affiliates have been asked to disable links, and the company’s main website bears the notification:
“Please be advised that as of 10th June 2016, Favourit has ceased to trade and will no longer accept bets, deposits or casino play from its customers or accept any new customers.
“Any bets that are currently unsettled or that have been placed on or after 10th June 2016 will be void and the stake returned to your account. Any bonuses that are not yet complete will be forfeited and treated as per the Terms and Conditions of the bonus.
“If you have any real money balance in your account we request that you log in to your account immediately and request a withdrawal so that your account balance can be returned to you as soon as possible.
“The Favourit website will be temporarily available for these withdrawals to occur.
“Customers with real money betting accounts that are unable to withdrawal will have their account and balance transferred to Jetbull, another operator in the EveryMatrix group, from which you will be able to access your balance. This process will be undertaken by EveryMatrix over the following week and customers will be contacted with further information at their registered email address with details on how to access their accounts at Jetbull.”
Favourit boasted a large, multi-provider gaming suite provided through the EveryMatrix white label company, and in March this year announced that its affiliate program would be handled by Income Access. The enterprise offered online casino and sportsbook action integrated with social networking
In March 2016 the company announced that it had launched a public offer through a reverse takeover of ASX listed Celsius Coal to raise up to $6 million, aiming to build a leading, differentiated business in the global online gambling industry.
Melbourne brothers Toby (29) and Josh (34) Simmons exploited the social gaming channels in founding their enterprise, in 2013 raising several million dollars in investor funding as they developed the business.
“We noticed users heading to sports betting platforms were coming from news websites, social media networks, fantasy tipping sites and wanted to wrap everything into one platform,” Toby said at the time in several interviews with business publications.
In late 2015 the company announced the appointment of Sportingbet veteran Gary Harris as chief executive officer. Harris was previously IT director and a board member of the Sportingbet Australia Group between 2004 and 2013, and was responsible for technology development and operations, growing Sportingbet online turnover from A$10 million to over A$2.4 billion prior to its sale to William Hill plc.
