GiG Media CEO responds to Catena Media suggestions regarding AskGamblers growth
Jonas Warrer reports revenue from regulated markets for brand outstrips that of unregulated markets as he responds to Michael Daly’s comments
GiG Media CEO Jonas Warrer has dismissed suggestions that AskGamblers’ growth since being acquired from Catena Media is as a result of pursuing unregulated markets.
During Catena Media’s Q3 analyst call last week, CEO Michael Daly defended the firm’s decision to sell its flagship AskGamblers brand to Gaming Innovation Group (GiG).
The affiliate sold the brand to GiG in December 2022 for €45m, with the divestment making up part of the firm’s wider strategic review of the business.
Since being acquired by GiG, AskGamblers has seen its revenue increase. According to GiG’s Q3 report, the AskGamblers brand has seen player intake and revenue up by around 45% compared to February 2023.
During the analyst call, Daly was questioned on the growth since the acquisition.
He said: “When we had AskGamblers, we were continually being sent letters from countries that said our operations were targeting those countries, and we were turning them off.
“The percentage that we went down, if you went back up, there would have been significant growth if you target those markets.
“The challenge we had was if we did that, we would have to probably consider splitting the company into two companies; one that focused on regulated markets and one that focused on grey or even black markets.”
The CEO then moved to comment on GiG’s approach to the AskGamblers brand, suggesting the adoption of a different strategy to Catena’s.
He said: “They are doing a different strategy than we were able to do with our focus on regulated markets, which we believe to be sustainable and also would not jeopardise the licences in those sustained and regulated markets.”
Speaking exclusively to EGR, GiG Media CEO Jonas Warrer has moved to clarify reasons behind AskGamblers’ growth since the takeover in February.
Warrer acknowledged that GiG Media might have a different strategy than other industry peers: “We are delighted with the performance of the AskGamblers business, where we see a higher share of traffic from regulated markets and a lower share of traffic from unregulated markets. We see the same development when it comes to revenue.
“An essential element of our strategy is to use cutting-edge technology, robust business intelligence, and company performance DNA to grow our business and reward our investors. Whether that strategy is successful, I’ll leave it to the market to decide.”