Brexit is a hot topic, with negotiations taking place between the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK), with the UK’s deadline for the departure from the union has less than 20 days left. GVC, which is one of the biggest gambling operators in the UK, has released its contingency plans for Brexit, which is going to witness the alternation of the operational strategy of the UK company. Up to this date, no deal is official between the EU and the UK, and this is why it is still difficult to estimate the actual impact of the Brexit on the gambling industry.
GVC Holdings Reveals its Concerns about the Brexit
GVC announced its full-year results, and with these results, the company stated that for regulatory and legal purposes, the Group and its companies to be able to offer services to EU customers, will have to have an establishment and have a license from a member state in the European Union. Secondly, according to the regulations of many European countries, the servers that host the online gaming platform also has to be located in a member state of the European Union. Therefore, if the UK leaves the European Union, it will cause legal and regulatory issues for GVC as it has a license in the UK, and it has its servers that serve its EU markets in the UK.
Therefore, with that mind, GVC Holdings has plans that are going to be in motion; these plans will see that the EU focused sectors are going to start operating under an online gambling license from Malta, with its server technology moving to the Republic of Ireland.
The European retail operations of the group witnessed an increase of sixteen percent growth in Net Gaming Revenue for 2018. The ongoing discussion that is taking place regarding Brexit, and the deadline getting closer, as it is due at the end of March, it is not a surprise that the company had to take certain precautions and plans to reorganize its operations, so it can continue offering its services in the different markets across Europe. GVC reported that despite its relocation process, that would witness the relocating of most of its operation parts to Malta and Ireland, its HQ in Gibraltar is going to remain, with no significant change to its number of employees in the Gibraltar HQ.
888 Holdings Also Acquires a License in Malta in case of No Deal
It seems that GVC is not the only UK operator that is bracing for the upcoming Brexit. As 888 Holdings have acquired a new Maltese license as they hedge their bets against the upcoming disruptive Brexit. The revenues of the company fell after the UK business had to deal with the stricter regulation in the United Kingdom, in addition to higher taxes. Pre Tax profits of the company increased from 14.4million pounds to 83.2 million, but revenue fell from 414.9m to 414 million pounds. The company also established a server in Ireland, just like GVC, to overcome the regulatory issues in case of a no deal Brexit.
- Lucky Clucks - November 8, 2021
- New Microgaming Games for November 2021 Finally Announced - November 7, 2021
- Sisters of the Sun - November 5, 2021
