The Weather Lottery acquires payment processor

Worcestershire, UK-based The Weather Lottery has acquired another Isle of Man business for more than GBP 420,000 and appointed a new chief operating officer.

In acquiring payment processor Sormelle, the company said it said was the next important element of its strategy of buying or developing new gaming and payment products.

Sormelle, through its wholly owned subsidiary Pay Corporation (PayCorp), will extend TWL’s payment processing capabilities, a spokesman said Thursday.

Owner Kevin Dale will receive TWL shares worth more than GBP 420,000 as payment for the company, which was incorporated on 25 April 2012 and has yet to produce any audited accounts. It has reached break-even point and is currently generating monthly fee revenues of about GBP 20,000.

Dale will join the board as chief operating officer. His early career was in project management and management consultancy, culminating in a team leader role at EY. He was seconded in 2000 to Coral Eurobet to implement a new strategic plan and acted as interim marketing director. Dale has also worked for Sportingbet, Betfair, Littlewoods Betdirect and GameAccount.

TWL has additionally agreed a loan agreement for GBP 250,000 from a consortium of private investors to help fund its working capital requirements following the acquisition.

TWL chairman Lord Tim Razzall said: “We continue to pursue opportunities in the gaming and related online payment space and the acquisition of Sormelle provides us with a broader range of services that will directly help our existing businesses take money online securely and easily, but also brings an opportunity to supply payment services to other e-businesses both in the UK and overseas. Kevin brings with him a proven track record of rolling out major products in the gaming and related sectors.”

WTL bought Poseve, another Isle of Man-based company, in May this year for GBP 350,000 .