Leovegas was founded in 2011 by Gustaf Hagman and Robin Ramm-Ericson. LeoVegas has experienced rapid growth due to the overriding increase of smartphone use and the "mobile first" mentality of its founders. Hagman stated that the company "was born out of the smartphone, which today is the fastest growing channel for entertainment." As a result, the company has over 700 employees working for the provider. The initial stock market offering of the company took place on 17 March 2016. Financial advisers in the transaction were Carnegie Investment Bank and SEB, as Joint Global Coordinators and Book-runners. Legal advisers were Baker McKenzie while Avanza Bank AB was appointed as LeoVegas' certified adviser. At the time of the initial listing of the company stock was heavily oversubscribed. In advance of the initial public offering LeoVegas announced a 124% increase in annual revenue of €83m for 2015 compared to €37m 2014. Depositing customers for both years and 2013 were as follows: 54,283, 100, 745, 202,498. On 13 May 2016, one month before the UEFA Euro 2016 football tournament, LeoVegas launched its sports betting product LeoVegas Sport. At the time of launch, CEO of LeoVegas Gaming Ltd. Johan Styren stated that fast loading speeds and the mobile-first approach would be integral to growth in the live betting market for mobile. On 7 July 2016, LeoVegas obtaining a gaming license in Denmark. On 1 March 2017 LeoVegas acquired 100% of the Italian operator Winga s.r.l. for a reported fee of €6 million, entering the Italian online gambling market. The Italian online platform and website became fully operative on 17 November 2017. On 17 March 2017, LeoVegas was listed on Nasdaq First North Premier. On 19 June 2017, LeoVegas signed a two-year deal with EFL Championship club Brentford to become both their new shirt and title sponsor. They followed this up a week later, on 26 June, by signing a three-year deal with Norwich City. On 27 October 2017, LeoVegas acquired Royal Panda for a reported fee of €60m as part of the company's expansion into regulated markets. On 8 December 2017, LeoVentures acquired a 51% majority stake in GameGrounds United, owner of the Casino Grounds streaming network. On 5 February 2018, LeoVegas changed to Nasdaqs Main Market list in Stockholm. On 7 February 2018, LeoVegas acquired German licenses. On 5 March 2018, LeoVegas acquired a fast growing casino operator in UK, today called Rocket X. On 13 September 2018, LeoVentures acquired 51% of the shares in Pixel Holding Group Ltd, which runs the esports betting operator Pixel.bet. Pixel.bet has a five-year license on the Swedish market. On 30 November 2018, LeoVegas was among the first to receive a gambling licence in Sweden. On 1 January 2019, Sweden became a regulated market and LeoVegas had a license from day one.
Operations
The company headquarters are in Stockholm, whereas the brand "LeoVegas" is owned by LeoVegas Gaming Ltd. which is based in Malta. Technical development is conducted by a further subsidiary of the group, Gears of Leo, based in Sweden. The company has offices in Italy, UK and Poland. The online casino and sports betting products are licensed and regulated under the service of the Maltese Lottery and Gaming Authority. In the United Kingdom, the company operates in compliance with UK Gambling Commission requirements and in Sweden under the service of Spelinspektionen. In addition, it has obtained authorization in 2019 from the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego. LeoVegas' core markets are the United Kingdom and Nordic countries, namely Sweden, Norway, and Finland. The company also has a presence in other European countries Spain, Italy. In addition, LeoVegas has a great presence in the Latin American countries Chile and Peru and in the rest of the world. LeoVegas offers a number of casino games from game providers including NetEnt, Yggdrasil, Evolution Gaming, IGT, Play N’ Go, Playtech, Microgaming, Authentic Gaming, Bally and WMS. Some of the casino games offered are roulette, blackjack, baccarat and Caribbean stud poker. The LeoVegas sportsbook uses the Kambi platform for front end user interface, odds compilation and customer intelligence.
Critics
The Netherlands
In the Dutch TV show Opgelicht, LeoVegas is mentioned in episode 3 in 2018 for large scale deception of consumers via advertising. Via Facebook, LeoVegas shared fake news displaying a man who claimed he won his millions very easily. The man, who was working for LeoVegas, says "I guarantee to you, if you want the best opportunity to win millions of euros for free within a few minutes, then you only have today to sign up". The false advertisement also claims that LeoVegas is linked to arbitrage algorithms in 74 stock markets. LeoVegas also shared fake news misusing a picture of Dutch newsreader Dionne Stax and Dutch national news organisation NOS, showing a picture of a British actor who claimed to have won millions with LeoVegas. The actor also played a main role in the British short movieHomeless, of which LeoVegas used his picture for their false advertisement. According to the Dutch Kansspel Autoriteiten also known as the NGA, the commercials and advertising are misleading and deceptive, making false statements about odds and suggesting gambling is a solution for financial problems.
United Kingdom
LeoVegas was fined £600,000 by the Gambling Commission over "failings" related to misleading advertising and the handling of customers. The GC identified 41 misleading adverts that were sanctioned by the operator, as well as evidence of the mistreatment of customers at the end of their self-exclusion period. A review found that LeoVegas failed to return funds to 11,205 customers when they chose to self-exclude and close their accounts, while marketing material was sent to 1,894 people who had previously self-excluded. In addition, LeoVegas allowed 413 previously self-excluded customers to gamble, without speaking to them first or applying a 24-hour cooling off period.
