Kindred Group

Kindred Group (formerly Unibet Group Plc) is an online gambling operator which consists of nine brands, among them Unibet, Maria Casino and 32Red. The Group offer products such as online casino, online poker, online bingo, and sports betting. The company is registered in Malta, but also has major hub offices in Gibraltar, London, Stockholm and the US in addition to smaller satellite offices across Europe and Australia. Kindred Group is a publicly listed company on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (Nasdaq). In 2017, the company's revenue was GBP 751.4 million.

Kindred Group Plc
TypePublic
Nasdaq Stockholm: KIND SDB
IndustryOnline gambling
Founded1997
FounderAnders Ström
HeadquartersMalta
Number of locations
Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Italy, Malta, Sweden, UK
Key people
Nils Anden (CEO)
Revenue£751.4 million (2017)[1]
Number of employees
2348
Websitewww.kindredgroup.com

History

In 2011 Unibet was awarded one of 48 licenses for the newly re-regulated Danish market.[2]

In 2012 Unibet acquired Bet24, a Danish online bookmaker.[3]

On 3 December 2013 Unibet announced that it was moving its poker operation away from the MPN network to offer a standalone poker site.[4] In April 2014 Unibet signed a deal with Thunderkick,[5] making them one of the first brands to support Thunderkick games.

On 19 May 2014, shareholders of Unibet approved the proposed spin-off of its B2B subsidiary Kambi Group Plc.[6] The company's 95 per cent stake in the business was subsequently distributed to Unibet shareholders. The Kambi Group Plc share started trading on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm First North on 2 June 2014.[7] The share closed at SEK 34 on the first day of trading, giving the company a market valuation of SEK 1,011,200,700.[8]

Unibet purchased Bingo.com Ltd.’s www.bingo.com domain and its real money online gambling business for a total of $8 million effective 31 December 2014. Unibet paid $2 million in cash and the remaining balance was paid with the redemption of its 15,000,000 in common shares in Bingo.com at $0.40 per share.[9]

On 14 November 2016, Unibet announced a partnership with Swedish electronic identification service, BankID, as the first gambling operator to utilise the bank developed solution at its Unibet and Maria Casino brands.[10]

Unibet continued on their acquisition trail in July 2015 with the purchase of StanJames.com (online business).[11] The price paid was believed to be £19 million in cash, adjusted for any customer liabilities. The deal did not include any of the Stan James high street retail shops, which have been rebranded as Megabet.[12]

In December 2016, shareholders at Unibet agreed to change the name of the business to Kindred Group Plc.[13] The change was supposedly "due to the company's focus on developing a multi-brand strategy moving forward".[14]

The newly named Kindred Group Plc continued their acquisition strategy in February 2017, snapping up the Gibraltar-based online gaming business 32Red Plc.[15]

In April 2018, Kindred Group launched an online gambling ad blocker tool so customers who choose to exclude themselves will be safe from gambling advertisements.[16]

In August 2018, Kindred Group announced a partnership with the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, marking the company's first entrance to the United States sports betting market by entering the New Jersey sports betting market.[17] On January 28, 2019, Kindred Group formed a partnership with the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania to enter the Pennsylvania sports betting market.[18]

References
  1. "Kindred 2017 annual report Eng" (PDF).
  2. "Danish Gambling Authority hands out first licences". Calvin Ayre Foundation. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  3. Stagno-Navarra, Karl. "Unibet acquires Bet24 and transfers employees to Malta". MediaToday. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  4. "Unibet Departing MPN to Offer Standalone Poker Site". Vita Ltd. 3 December 2013. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  5. "Thunderkick Signs Deal With Unibet". Casino Reviewer. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  6. "Unibet shareholders approve Kambi spin-off at AGM - Gaming Intelligence". www.gamingintelligence.com. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  7. "Kambi - NASDAQ OMX NORDIC". www.nasdaqomxnordic.com. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  8. "Press release : Kambi Group plc". kambigroupplc.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  9. "Unibet buys Bingo.com". intergameonline.com/. 23 June 2015.
  10. "Unibet Group first gambling operator to integrate BankID in Sweden". news.cision.com. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  11. "Unibet Group plc: Unibet Acquires Stan James Online". Business Insider. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  12. "MEGABET - Place your bets". www.megabet.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  13. "Unibet Group plc: Unibet officially renamed Kindred Group Plc". Gambling Insider. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  14. "BRIEF-Unibet Group says to change name to Kindred Group". Reuters. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  15. "Kindred to Buy 32Red for $219 Million in Latest Gaming Deal". Bloomberg. 23 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  16. "Kindred Launches Anti-Gambling Blocker Tool with Betfilter". 9 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  17. "Kindred Group Connects With Hard Rock Atlantic City For NJ Sports Betting". Play NJ. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  18. Allabaugh, Denise (29 January 2019). "Mohegan Sun Pocono to offer sports betting, online gaming". The Citizens' Voice. Wilkes-Barre, PA. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
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