French gambling operator Winamax has completed the acquisition of the existing Italy-facing license of iGaming brand bet-at-home, a majority stake in which is held by another French gambling company – Betclic Everest Group. The announcement was first published by Italian gambling news outlet AgiproNews.
The purchase will make it possible for Winamax to enter the Italian iGaming market more quickly than if it had applied for a license from the local gambling regulators.
Italy’s Agenzia delle dogane e dei Monopoli was expected to publish the requirements for the new round of bids for online gambling licenses and thus launch the actual bidding process in mid-September. However, the long-anticipated publication of said requirements was delayed once again. According to latest reports from local media, this is going to happen within the next two weeks. And if no further delays occur in the process, a new batch of licensed operators is likely to commence operations in early 2018 along with existing licensees, which will have their licensees renewed as part of the whole process.
Winamax apparently decided to secure itself with earlier entry into the market, which has become of particular interest to leading operator in recent months. Signals that the French online poker giant was gearing up for international expansion first surfaced in the first quarter of the year, when it revealed on its LinkedIn page that it was seeking Italian-, Portuguese-, and Spanish-speaking staff.
Last week, the poker operator announced that Italian poker pro Mustapha Kanit and his Spanish colleague Adrian Mateos Diaz have joined its team of brand ambassadors. The move was, too, interpreted as part of Winamax’s strategy to enter some of Europe’s major regulated markets.
Why Is Winamax So Keen on Expansion?
With the recent purchase of bet-at-home’s Italian license, Winamax has once again indicated that it wants to participate in the shared online poker liquidity project, which was sealed this past July in Rome. In order to be able to take part in the scheme, Winamax needs to obtain licenses from the countries it wants to provide its services in.
It is still unknown when exactly the new poker network that will merge the player pools of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal will be launched. Hopes were that this would happen before the end of the year.
Italian regulators have previously said that it was their priority to launch the bidding process for interested operators, and that more details over the future realization of the shared liquidity project would emerge afterwards. Given the delay in the start of the bidding process, this could affect the launch of the poker network, as well. With that said, it may be sometime in the first quarter of 2018 when players from each of the above-mentioned four countries will be able to play against peers from the other three.
