Helmicasino Relaunched in Finland Amidst Spiffbet Market Place Switch
After completing the acquisition of the dormant online casino brand Helmicasino, Spiffbet has relaunched the platform in Finland under its Maltese gambling license. The Sweden-based brand completed this move shortly after acquiring and launching Supersnabbtin in Sweden. Additionally, the market switch process for Spiffbet commenced after the operator received conditional approval for listing on Nordic SME, and its application to delist from the Nasdaq First North Growth Market was approved.
Spiffbet has relaunched Helmicasino in Finland after its acquisition.
?Tapio Haaja/Unsplash
Spiffbet is a Stockholm-based company that functions across the B2B and B2C verticals. It runs online casinos through different brands and also has a developer arm that is responsible for creating online gaming software. The company aims at high returns through synergy, improved efficiency and joint marketing. The first-class gaming experience in a responsible environment for Spiffbet’s onsite casinos. It concentrates on incremental enhancements and organic growth. The Swedish brand has been quite active in the Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) sector after Million Games acquired its studios and game development businesses earlier this year. On the other hand, there were major developments in the B2C vertical as Spiffbet acquired two popular brands – Supersnabbtin and Helmicasino. Takeover of the former came first, and it was relaunched in the competitive Swedish gambling market under a Spelinspektionen-approved gambling permit. Meanwhile, the latter was relaunched earlier this month in the monopolized region of Finland. Helmicasino will legally operate in Finland despite the monopoly as it is licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA).
Helmicasino is not the only iGaming brand operating under an MGA-issued license in Finland. Supernova and Turbovegas are doing the same. The MGA regulates the most active and competitive gambling market in the world due to which it is one of the most credible regulators worldwide. The Maltese authority regulates the iGaming hub of the world and ensures that its gambling market meets the highest standards. The MGA strictly screens all the operators who apply for gambling permits and only issues these licenses to reputed gambling brands that do not have a bad history or incorrect paperwork. Since all the top gambling standards are met by operators holding an MGA-approved license, they can operate legally in Finland. Meanwhile, Veikkaus is the only local operator in Finland that holds the monopoly for all forms of gambling. However, the state-owned operator will lose its monopoly at the end of 2025, as the Finnish government has confirmed that the Nordic nation will switch to a multi-licence commercial model from 1 January 2026. Earlier this year, the change was expected sooner, but Veikkaus will remain the sole legal local operator for the next two years.
Spiffbet is expected to continue its growth primarily by acquiring promising iGaming businesses in the near future. The operator is currently listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market but will not be there for long. In the second week of December, Spiffbet received conditional approval for its listing on the Nordic SME on the Nordic Growth Market. After receiving the approval, Spiffbet immediately applied for delisting from the Nasdaq First North Growth Market, and it was accepted just a day later. On December 21, 2023, the Swedish brand will spend its last day listed on its existing marketplace, and on December 22, 2023, it will celebrate its first trading day on Nordic SME. Simultaneously, Spiffbet will be hoping that the two new acquisitions help in boosting revenue and profits from the first quarter of 2024. In the third quarter of 2023, Spiffbet’s net income recorded a nine percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) decrease. The EBITDA was stable, and marketing costs and other overhead costs were also quite low. These costs are expected to increase in the near future as the two new acquisitions of Spiffbet start generating steady revenue.
BML Group Was Fined in Finland for Marketing Breach
Spiffbet is not the only brand that is active in the Finnish gambling market with the help of its Maltese gambling permit. Many other popular brands are following the same route and will stick to it till the licensing system goes live after two years. Betsson is one of the brands that is active in Finland and is operating via its subsidiary, BML Group. Meanwhile, Kindred withdrew from the Finnish market at the start of last year and will likely re-enter the Nordic nation when the monopoly is dissolved.
As of now, The Ministry of the Interior is the gambling regulatory authority in Finland, while the National Police Board (NPB) supervises the Lotteries Act. Amidst the threat of problematic gambling, the authorities in Finland decided to introduce new gambling advertising laws in the jurisdiction that were strict. Any operator found violating these advertising laws would be slapped with a hefty fine. Earlier this year, BML Group conducted marketing activities in Finland that violated these marketing guidelines.
According to the NPB, the Betsson-owned brand targeted Finnish players with its promotions and violated multiple subsections under Section 16 of the Criminal Code in the Finnish Lottery Act. Since the NPB is responsible for ensuring operator compliance with the Lotteries Act of Finland, it acted on the breach immediately by slapping a conditional fine worth €2.4 million on BML Group. The NPB also stated that the Betsson-owned brand had been targeting Finnish players for a very long period.
After Finland, EGBA Asks Norway to Dissolve Monopoly
In the Scandinavian region, the gambling markets of Denmark and Sweden follow a licensing system. Both gambling markets have shown steady growth after the liberalization. Denmark dissolved its state-run gambling monopoly in 2012 as the nation opened its doors to private operators offering their services in the jurisdiction under stern regulation by the Danish Gambling Authority, Spillemyndigheden. Meanwhile, Sweden took the same route and ended its gambling monopoly in 2019, allowing private operators to gain licenses from Spelinspektionen (Swedish Gambling Authority) and enter the jurisdiction legally.
Meanwhile, their Nordic neighbors Finland and Norway still have a gambling monopoly in place. At the end of the pandemic-inflicted year of 2020, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) asked Finland to liberate its gambling market by taking the monopoly away from Veikkaus and switching to a licensing-based system. Years after its advice, the Finnish authorities have acted on the suggestion and decided to liberate the market. This year, EGBA said the same to Finland’s neighbor, Norway. As things stand, Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto hold the gambling monopoly in the Scandinavian nation, and the gambling regulator has opted for a multi-faceted approach to protect its existing system.
