Unibet and Rank to Launch a Joint Gambling Venture in Belgium

Unibet and Rank, two giant European land-based and online gambling groups have reached an agreement to offer real money online casino and poker gambling in full compliance with Belgian gambling laws.

The news came as part of Unibet’s H1 2012 financial report. The joint venture is expected to launch in Q3 2012 and could become one of the biggest online casinos in Belgium. As soon as the Belgian Gaming Commission issues the necessary license, the operators will be ready to launch the project.

Belgian regulators require that all online gambling operators have an existing land-based license as well. This can be met by Rank, already operating two casinos in the Belgian soil. Unibet in turn holds an online sportsbook license in Belgium.

Henrik Tjarnstrom, CEO of Unibet, told Belgium gambling news that the joint operation possesses great prospects on the market estimated at around EUR 140 million in 2013. Belgian laws permit a long list of gambling, and the taxation regime of 11 percent of gross gaming revenue is more favorable than in other parts of Europe.

The taxation is an important issue for Unibet, which revealed that its tax payments have increased from EUR 600,000 to 6 million during the first-half of 2012.

Other important points from Unibet’s financial report stipulate that:

• The company’s revenues grew 34 percent since last year to GBP 96.5 million; represented by GBP 43.7 million from betting, GBP 37.7 million from online casino gambling, and GBP 7.7 million from poker.
• Pre-tax profit amounted to GBP 18.1 million, a nice GBP 100,000 hike year-on-year.
• The group acquired Bet24 (Denmark), Betchoice (Australia), and Solfive (France) during the period.
• The company showed amazing performance in sports betting sector, with GBP 32.6 million in turnover on Euro 2012 football, consisting of an 11.1 percent margin.