betandwin Solidifies Its Presence in Turkey

21 August 2003

Austrian gambling company betandwin announced that it purchased on Monday the www.beteurope.com platform. The site, together with the associated gaming sites www.easybahis.com, www.bahisturk.com, www.sanalcasino.com and www.casinoturk.com, specializes in the Turkish betting market.

According to betandwin's press statement, "An extensive customer base coupled with management familiar with the specifics of the Turkish market will enable betandwin to enter this rapidly expanding region quickly and cost efficiently."

The group's new IT platform is designed to facilitate the addition of new products and services to the acquired sites. The sports betting services offered will concentrate on Turkish regional football leagues. The company reports that a live-betting component is under development as well.

Details of the agreement have not been disclosed, although betandwin stated, "... the purchase price will be financed in the form of shares, cash, and success-oriented 'earn-out' payments from operations during the first two years."

This most recent acquisition, along with the purchase of Playit.com in Scandinavia and beteurope.com in Turkey, is part of betandwin's strategy of "regional expansion and diversification on the markets of continental Europe."

The sites purchase Monday were owned by JS Interactive Ltd. and licensed in the United Kingdom.

The Turkish Market

Turkey, with a population of 67 million, is a monopolistic and a very interesting market, composed of Milli Piyango (lotto, lottery and scratch cards), Sportoto (sports betting) and the Jockey Club of Turkey (racing). Milli Piyango will be, under pressure of the IMF, privatized later this year. Turkish parliament voted on Aug. 8, 1997 to close all (around 80) casinos within six months. VLT's are not allowed in Turkey. There are around 100 Internet betting site targeting Turkish punters.

Playit.com Ltd.

Playit.com Ltd. is an Internet-based bookmaker founded in 1997 and based in Liverpool. pool. The company has an all-Scandinavian crew and is fully owned by a Scandinavian investment group, mainly held by Scandinavian and English investors. The main shareholder is one of the largest and most successful media houses in the Nordic region, with an annual turnover exceeding EU400 million.

betandwin Betandwin.com Interactive Entertainment AG (BAW) was founded in December 1997 with the objective of developing online gaming products for the global Internet market. The company has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since March 2000.

B&W highlights Q2/2003:

  • Significant increase in turnover (64 percent) and net winnings (140 percent) compared to previous year.
  • Positive trend in development of EBITDA (EU1.5 million) and EBIT (EU0.6 million).
  • First time pre-tax earnings of EU0.7 million.
  • Number of bets placed nearly doubled.

First half of 2003:

  • Turnover up 70 percent; net winnings 194 percent over the first half of 2002.
  • EBITDA, EBIT and pre-tax consolidated earnings well in the black.
  • Positive development of liquid assets (including short-term securities) continues: EU22.407 million as of June 30, 2003.



Rob van der Gaast has a background in sports journalism. He worked for over seven years as the head of sports for Dutch National Radio and has developed new concepts for the TV and the gambling industry. Now he operates from Istanbul as an independent gambling research analyst. He specializes in European gambling matters and in privatizations of gambling operators. Rob has contributed to IGN since Jul 09, 2001.