You may not know them by name but you probably will know their brands, Kindred Group have been trading since 1997 and are the brains behind Unibet and 32 Red making them currently one of the largest gambling companies in the world. Kindred have already been key investors in Relax Gaming since 2013 owning 33.4% off the brands shares since that time making them one of the largest owners and this latest acquisition will see them now fully own the classic game provider. However what are the ramifications of this takeover? and what exactly does it look like?
Kindred are expected to pay approximately €295m/£275m to buy out the remaining 66.6% of shares, Henrik Tjärnström, CEO at Kindred Group is quoted as saying “Through this acquisition we add a rapidly growing and profitable B2B business with a world-class product portfolio, giving us greater control over our casino, poker and bingo offering, putting Kindred in a significantly better position to achieve our long-term strategy to increase our focus on product differentiation and customer experience.” Kindred go on to state that, In order to secure continued integrity of Relax Gaming’s B2B customers, Kindred’s intention is to keep Relax Gaming as an independent entity within the Group. Relax Gaming have been making exclusive poker and bingo content for Kindred since the beginning of their investments and we struggle to see how the allure of exclusivity for their slot releases now all under one brand wouldn't be acted upon.
Patrik Österåker, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board at the Relax Gaming addressed these concerns by stating that they “Will continue the Relax Gaming journey as a separate B2B entity with unchanged product portfolio and overall strategy, staying true to our values and respecting the hard-earned trust of our customers. Our continued independence is a key element of the transaction” With both parties claiming to want to keep Relax Gaming independent time will tell if this acquisition truly will impede on Relax Gamings global slot offerings and limit them to producing content exclusively for Kindred Group brands such as Unibet, 32 Red amongst others. This close relationship between slot creators and casinos will be sure to cause a stir in the coming months and we will of course keep you in the know of any developments moving forward.