IT reseller eyes online casino market

The colourful and at times troubled history of Australian IT re-seller Synergy Plus is about to change again as the company eyes the online casino sector for its future development, according to a report in the publication CRN this week.

Just two years after fighting its way out of administration the company has announced that it has agreed to acquire Australian online casino operator VGW Holdings Ltd, which owns the sweepstakes “social online casino” Chumba Casino.

Synergy Plus ran into financial difficulties and reportedly owed millions of dollars to creditors in 2011 which necessitated the appointment of administrators. The company later entered into a deed of company arrangement, announcing in 2013 its exit from administration and a new strategy to buy gold and base metal assets and become a shell company, a plan that was later abandoned.

VGW Holdings is a four-year-old start-up trading as Virtual Gaming Worlds and claims a player base of 80,000 generating revenue of around A$13 million annually.

The company is active on Facebook, with games involving “virtual” currency and cash prize gameplay, and has ambitions of expansion into the online lottery, poker and sports verticals in international markets.

The Synergy deal includes a proposal to undergo a capital consolidation as a part of the acquisition and a capital raising of A$5 million, which will be deployed to fund VGW growth in the United States market. VGW founder Laurence Escalante will remain with the company and join the Synergy board.

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