Hong Kong-listed China Vanguard Group Ltd, a company providing lottery-related services to the mainland market, is to link with a Shenzhen-based company to design and implement a lottery game interface for lottery sales platforms on so-called smart televisions.
The interface is to be designed for various types of lottery “including lotto type and high-frequency lottery,” China Vanguard said in a filing. Smart TVs are television receivers that are also configured for connection to the Internet, and an example of the convergence between traditional television technology and computers.
The cooperation agreement was signed between Shenzhen Bozone IT Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China Vanguard, and Shenzhen Qiwei Technology Development Ltd. The latter is a subsidiary of TCL Group Ltd, a mainland company engaged in the production and sale of consumer electronic products, including TVs and mobile phones.
The companies will also cooperate to introduce “paperless self-service lottery solutions for smart TVs,” China Vanguard said in Monday’s statement.
Lottery sales in mainland China – for regulated online products and regulated shop-sold ones – grew by 19 percent year-on-year to RMB309 billion (US$50.2 billion) in 2013.
China Vanguard said the deal has demonstrated its success “in crystallising and successfully extending its interactive self-service to a new strategic distribution channel”.
The firm announced last week it is buying an electronic marketing and administrative platform currently serving the provincial China Welfare Lottery Centre and the provincial China Sports Lottery Administration Centre for RMB17.5 million.
In a separate filing this week, China Vanguard clarified that a total of 4 million shares will be issued to the vendor – Regal Century Development Ltd – in five stages, but only upon the successful signing of provincial cooperation agreements.
Upon fulfilment of the vendor’s performance guarantee, China Vanguard said it would be able to acquire a total of six agreements with provincial lottery centres “for the provision of an interactive electronic marketing and administrative platform”.
