Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has reached an agreement to divest its B2C brand, Highroller to affiliate and operator, Ellmount Gaming Ltd, for a total price of €7 million.
As a part of the deal, Ellmount Gaming will become a B2B customer of GiG and continue to operate Highroller using GiG’s Platform Services, Front End solution and Managed Services.
GiG will receive the payment in monthly instalments over the contract period of 48 months, with the contract starting seven months after this date.
Highroller will initially remain as an operator under GiG’s licences with a long-term white label agreement, and have also planned to be migrated to Ellmounts Gaming’s licenses following regulatory approval. GiG expects positive contributions from Highroller under the new owner.
After being a proprietary brand of GiG, Highroller launched in December 2017, with a successful start and strong brand recognition. In the first six months of 2019, Highroller had revenues of €1.4 million with an EBITDA of €-0.2 million.
The divestment is part of GiG’s strategy to increase brand equity for Rizk.com in the casino category in select markets, in order to improve earnings quality and margins, via increased customer engagement and loyalty.
After this divestment, GiG will operate with four brands; Rizk, Guts, Kaboo and Thrills. The Risk brand is the best performing brand and represents 71% of total B2C revenues with a year-on-year growth of 34% (Q1 2019). Guts is the second largest brand, which will be further developed as a sports betting brand.
Robin Reed, CEO of GiG says: “The sale of Highroller is a confirmation of our discipline and focus as we are growing Rizk.Com to become a Tier 1 casino operator in select markets. Through this agreement, we gain increased cash flow, a strong B2B partner and Highroller will get the marketing muscle and focus it deserves.
“The brand was launched only two years ago and with this sale, it has returned three-digit ROI for GiG. I am looking forward to seeing the brand prosper in the hands of very capable owners, empowered by our full suite of products and services.”
