Initial rollout in New Jersey
Playtech has announced that it has entered a multi-state deal in the United States with Kindred Group’s Unibet Interactive. As part of the agreement, Playtech will provide its RNG Casino software to Unibet, initially in the New Jersey market. In the coming months, the software will roll out across Unibet offerings in other states.
Playtech chief operating officer Shimon Akada welcomed the announcement, speaking about how Unibet provides a fantastic entertainment experience to its players in the US. In Thursday’s press release, he said: “Playtech continues to partner with the leading operators in New Jersey to bring its industry-leading Casino software to the U.S. market and we look forward to continuing to expand into new States.”
Kindred Group US senior vice president Manuel Stan spoke about the excitement of adding the Playtech Casino software to its New Jersey offering, saying: “Partnering with Playtech enables us to offer our online casino customers a selection of some of the best quality content, and we look forward to further collaboration with Playtech across more U.S. states in the future.”
Expanding its US presence
This Unibet partnership is the latest move as part of Playtech’s strategic expansion across the US. Playtech already has a presence in New Jersey through its deals with BetMGM and Bet365. New Jersey is consistently one of the biggest iGaming and sports betting markets in the US. There is a high barrier of entry, though, because of the presence of a wide range of operators.
Playtech secured a lease for its first US-based live casino studio
Playtech also has a partnership in place with Parx Interactive, which has allowed Playtech to roll out its software in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. In March, Playtech secured a lease for its first US-based live casino studio.
In addition to its online casino in New Jersey, Unibet also has online casinos up and running in Virginia, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Thus, it is likely that Playtech casino software will also reach those offerings in the coming months.
Playtech is selling financial services division
Playtech is currently in the process of refocusing its attention on its B2C and B2B gaming divisions. Also this week, Playtech announced the long-awaited sale of its financial services division.
It is selling its Finalto division to Gopher Investments in an all-cash deal for $250m. The Playtech board has already unanimously supported the sale, but it still needs to get approval from shareholders. The current timeline is for the transaction to be completed in the first half of 2022. Playtech had previously rejected a $210m offer in August. The company believes that this sale will help to increase the stability and predictability of cash flows for the remaining group.