Unibet acquires Sportingbet's interest in social gaming venture

n a surprise move Tuesday, Swedish online gambling group Unibet plc has announced that it has effectively acquired Sportingbet plc’s interest in that company’s social gambling joint venture with Plumbee.

Social Gambling (Channel Islands) is a company set up by Sportingbet to handle its interests in the Bonza Gaming 50-50 joint venture with Plumbee, which launched under an Alderney licence earlier this year with a plan to use the Facebook social gambling opportunity for real-money operations .

Bonza has already launched its first game on Facebook, Bonza Slots.

Sportingbet is currently the subject of an acquisition deal by William Hill plc and GVC.

The Unibet announcement revealed that the company will acquire a 100 percent interest in Social Gambling (Channel Islands) in return for a nominal fee of just GBP 100 and a loan facility of GBP 2 million.

That will give Unibet around 45 percent of Bonza Gaming, with social gaming specialist Plumbee remaining involved.