Betsson will not be making a return to the recently re-regulated Dutch gambling market, opting instead to wind down its plans, as confirmed by the company officially.
Part of the decision is a delay on the part of the regulator to rule whether Betsson could buy out Holland Gaming Technology Ltd and Holland Power Gaming B.V. to reenter the market.
Betsson exited the market before its re-regulation in 2021, but in early 2024, the company outlined plans to acquire the companies and made payments.
Because of the legal limbo that ensued, Betsson will now receive back the payments it has already paid to the companies, €26.7m to Holland Gaming Technology and €27.5m to Holland Power Gaming, respectively.
Betsson was hoping to re-enter a market that it had generally performed strongly in, and wanted to push ahead despite toughening market conditions that would have made it harder to operate in the newly regulated realities.
This is not the first time Betsson has courted the idea of re-entry, after it had to withdraw its application in 2023, citing regulatory tardiness as well as the costliness of the entire process as its main hurdle.
What remains next for Betsson in the Netherlands is unclear, but the company’s long-elusive goal of re-entry remains just that.
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