GGRAsia – Sega Sammy online tilt continued after Yokohama’s exit on IR

Sega Sammy online tilt continued after Yokohama’s exit on IR

Jan 05, 2024 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck, World

Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc’s interest in exploring the online gaming services sector overseas “has continued” after the “withdrawal of Yokohama’s IR project,” in the land-based casino segment, said a management spokesperson in comments to GGRAsia.

In 2021, the group had stated it was willing to spend approximately JPY120.0 billion (US$845.3 million currently) towards the cost of an integrated resort (IR) with casino in Yokohama, Japan, as part of a proposed consortium that would have included Genting Singapore Ltd. In autumn 2021, Yokohama officially pulled out of contention to host an IR.

In November last year, Sega Sammy Holdings said in a statement it was to pay about US$107.6 million to acquire GAN Ltd, a company that offers business-to-business software services in the United States, and business-to-consumer online gaming services in Europe and South America. It is expected the deal can be closed by the third quarter of fiscal year ending March 2025.

A spokesperson for Sega Sammy Holdings told GGRAsia regarding that move: “Sega Sammy has continued to explore business opportunities in online gaming business overseas after withdrawal of Yokohama’s IR project.”

The person added: “In particular, we have had our eyes on the massive North American gaming market where it is well-controlled by strict regulations in terms of compliance.”

The iGaming market was “particularly promising” within the United States, and was likely “to expand in the future,” added the source.

“If we can enter the U.S. iGaming market before broad legalisation, it could provide a promising opportunity to grow our presence” in that sector, added the Sega Sammy Holdings spokesperson.

“As more [U.S.] states legalise online gaming, we expect existing operators to expand and new operators to enter the online gaming market. We believe GAN’s turnkey technology solution is highly competitive in enabling these operators to quickly enter the online gaming market.”

Sega Sammy Holdings noted that GAN was an “integrated” provider that operates the Coolbet-branded online gaming platform in Europe and Latin America, and Silverback Gaming, an online casino game development studio in Bulgaria.

The Japanese group had already flagged possible synergies between GAN’s services and product portfolio, and its own casino-equipment and gaming-content unit Sega Sammy Creation Inc, the latter with a particular focus currently on North American land-based casino operators. Sega Sammy Creation would be the group entity to acquire GAN via a special-purpose company.

“We believe combining [Sega Sammy Creation’s] customer base and content development capabilities with GAN’s market-leading technologies will enable [us] to realise synergies [to] make significant contributions to the expansion of Sega Sammy’s gaming business, which includes growing [volumes of] customers and strengthening content offerings,” the parent’s spokesperson told GGRAsia.

The person added: “We will work to expand the customer base of Sega Sammy Creation … by cross-selling” to its land-based casino customers, “services offered by GAN’s business-to-business” portfolio in the online sector.

Sega Sammy Holdings utilising “GAN’s business-to-consumer” portfolio, would create a “synergistic effect,” said the person.

In particular, it would mean the ability to offer via GAN, intellectual property that was “a good match for gaming” applications sought by land-based operators, and would complement intellectual property currently “held by the Sega Sammy group together with Sega Sammy Creation’s gaming equipment and content development capabilities,” stated the Sega Sammy Holdings spokesperson.