Betsson in new Italian initiative

Swedish gambling company Betsson is to enter into a joint venture with G.Matica Srl in Italy.
G.Matica is the gaming division of Alma Viva, one of the largest IT companies in Italy, with over 20 000 employees, and the firm holds an online gaming licence for the Italian market.  It operates online through its site Gbet.it, and plans to use its partnership with Betsson to further develop the online business within the Italian market.
A spokesman said this week that the Italian online gambling market is the largest in Europe, with an estimated turnover of Euro 4.8 billion last year and a growth rate of 28 percent p.a. The national gaming regulator, AAMS, published a new decree last Thursday, which allows existing licensees to offer Casino and Cash Poker Games, making the market even more attractive .
Pontus Lindwall, CEO of Betsson AB, said: “With this Italian B2B-deal, Betsson is taking an important step in the new regulated European environment.
“Betsson views the Italian market as a good jurisdiction within which to operate from a local licensing perspective. Our partner has a solid background in IT and gaming, as well as local knowledge of the Italian market, and Betsson contributes with valuable gaming know how and operations, which together will be a great foundation for success on the market”.
Betsson estimates that the joint venture with G.Matica will start generating revenues for Betsson in the second quarter of 2011.

Related and similar