In September 2021, a brief press release announced the departure of one of the industry’s most well-known figures. Officially, Betsson announced Pontus Lindwall would resign as CEO, but he doesn’t look to downplay what happened. “I was more or less sacked by the board,” he says bluntly.
It might be easier for Lindwall to be frank, because of what happened next. The announcement sparked uproar from shareholders, prompting a vote of no confidence in chairman Patrick Svensk, and the election of a new board that kept Lindwall in his post.
“I didn’t even leave the office, it was a quite fast turnaround,” he notes.
What kept him in the role was likely closely linked to the reasons the board provided for his departure. Lindwall was brought back into the top job at Betsson in 2017 – six years after leaving for the first time – to implement a recovery programme after a series of challenging quarterly results.
In Q2 of 2021, the business reported record earnings before interest and tax. Svensk said this meant the business was “back on track” and Lindwall had thus completed his task, but to shareholders, deviating from a successful formula may have seemed unwise.
“Obviously they have been shareholders for a very long time and, I think, they have over time been quite happy shareholders,” Lindwall says. “And it seems they just had a different view than the majority of the board.”
So are there major goals for Betsson and Lindwall now he’s been given fresh life as CEO? “There’s so much business to be done in these industries. So yes, there is unfinished business.”
Lands of opportunity
That business may include a number of new markets, with Latin America having been a particular focus lately.
Betsson has made a number of strategic acquisitions focusing in the region, including Colombia-facing Colbet and Peru’s Inkabet. At the same time, it has launched its core brand in the city of Buenos Aires in Argentina.
“It’s a big opportunity,” Lindwall says of Latin America. “It’s a huge market. It’s some years behind European markets in terms of development, both on a technical and legal side, but there’s a huge interest in sports.”
The ultimate prize in Latin America, though, must surely be Brazil and its football-mad population of more than 200 million. Betsson readied itself for the launch of fixed-odds sports betting in Brazil back in 2018, acquiring a 75% stake in local operator Suaposta. At that time, legal fixed-odds betting seemed imminent.
Four years later, a number of delays have meant the market has not yet launched. Major progress came in May, when the government published its draft regulations for the sector. With the 2022 World Cup presenting an obvious target date for a launch, Lindwall says Betsson will do what it takes to deliver a product ready for Brazilians by that date.
“If the regulations are approved in time, then it will be up to us to prioritise and see if we can manage to get our systems up and running for the World Cup,” he says.
While the operator’s focus in Latin America has been clear, its strategy in another new market exciting the industry may seem more muted. The business has been expanding in the US, but primarily as a B2B proposition. Its B2C product only launched in Colorado in March.
This launch is not, Lindwall says, a move towards a B2C-first approach to the US. Instead, the consumer-facing brand exists to complement the tech offering.
“It’s not a shift in strategy,” he explains. “The US is a huge market and it’s very expensive to go full-blown B2C there. And we have a very competitive sportsbook product, which we think makes a good fit into that market."
“But we also realise that in order to be able to kind of present our B2B offering to the US market, we need to be in the market and have the product validated. So we started our own B2C operation in Colorado, where we’re going to keep gaining market knowledge for our product and at the same time use this as a showcase for our sportsbook and our technology.”
As a business with its own sportsbook technology that it’s currently showcasing in the US, Betsson has been involved in its share of M&A rumours. However, when it comes to potential deals, Lindwall sees his business as a buyer, not a seller.
“We are in an acquirer position and we did some acquisitions last year,” he says. “So we are going to continue to be on the buyer side. It’s part of our growth strategy to do M&A.”
Source: iGB (By Daniel O'Boyle)
