Unibet To Acquire Social Gambling Business, Buys 45% Stake In Facebook Gambling Game Maker Bonza

Online gambling giant Unibet announced today that it has signed a conditional agreement to acquire 100% of Social Gambling (Channel Islands) Ltd, “SGCI,” for $151 and a $3 million loan facility.

SGCI is basically a shell company set up by Sportingbet for its recent joint venture with social casino startup Plumbee, or Bonza Gaming. Interestingly, Bonza Gaming is one of the first companies to work on a real money social gambling business for the Facebook Platform. Bonza’s first social gambling game for Facebook is called Bonza Slots, which was launched at the beginning of 2013 in the UK market.

SGCI holds a little less than 50% interest in Bonza. After dilution for incentive schemes, Unibet’s equity interest in Bonza will be about 45%.

Unibet is one of the biggest online gambling operators in Europe with more than 7.2 million customers around the world. In 2012, the company’s turnover was close to $300 million.

Image Credit: The Globe and Mail

Kaylie lives in Ottawa and got her first Mac in 2007 and is now a fan for life.