ComplianceOnline, a London, UK-based provider of independent legal, regulatory and business intelligence to the global gambling industry, has been acquired in a management buy-out, which was backed by specialist Kester Capital.
About The Deal
The transaction, whose amount was not disclosed, will enable the company to accelerate its growth plans as it moves into this next phase. Following the close of the deal, the founder David Morgan, will step down while Mike Woolfrey, who has been the CEO since 2018, will continue to lead the ComplianceOnline. Before joining the company, Woolfrey held several senior executive roles within B2B media and information services businesses.
Launched in 2007, ComplianceOnline is at the forefront of the gambling regulatory landscape, providing Gambling Compliance, Payments Compliance and RegData products, which enables compliance and legal teams around the world to manage risk and discover new market opportunities by getting access to in-depth insight, analysis, commentary and research.
The company’s solutions are used by leading names all over the world among affiliates, bingo, casino, esport, fantasy sport, online gambling, lottery, secondary lottery, slot machine, sports betting and tribal gaming players, to make more informed understanding and effective decision making in a competitive landscape with several companies launching their bonuses like this one at golden-bonus-code.com. The site lists PaddyPower, Betfair, Betway, Ladbrokes Coral Group, William Hill as customers. Given the results of their activity, in 2015, the company launched a similar offering for the payments industry.
The Market
Globally, online gambling is a burgeoning industry faced with a growing regulatory and identity verification challenges. According to Coherent Market Insights, global online gambling and betting market was valued at US$ 46.9 billion in 2017 and is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 11.4% over the forecast period (2018 – 2026).
For online gambling operators, meeting the demands of the industry, addressing Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance requirements and illicit activities across different and several jurisdictions is becoming very difficult.
A broad and growing range of customers are engaged in online gambling and the Internet allows people to play from anywhere and at any time. But rules are different across countries and jurisdictions with age restriction and bans which changes from place to place.
To win these challenges, operators need to access to a secure and consistent system infrastructure and knowledge in order to adhere to local laws and meet the various requirements.
About Kester Capital
Founded in 2007 Kester Capital is a London, UK-based a primary buy-out specialist, led by entrepreneurial and experienced investors, and focused on UK businesses that require capital in order to unlock their potential.
The firm makes £5m / £25m equity investments in £10m / £50m of Enterprise value.
75% of portfolio companies have been supported by bolt-on acquisitions.
1500 people are employed across their portfolio, which include Jollyes, CETA Insurance, Factory-CRO, Frontier Medical, Briefing Media, ShoppingAtHome
Garrets International, Industry Dynamics, Chiltern, and Travel Entertainment Group.