Playtech one of the market leaders in online casino software signed a multi-year deal with NetPlay. NetPlay will move its online brands to the Playtech platform in return they will provide Playtech licensees with their live gambling products, and provide a £12.8m cash injection to fund future growth.

Playtech’s CEO Mor Weizer stated that the five-year agreement with the internet casino provider, will mean for Playtech that they become a market leader in live gambling. Mor Weizer said: “We believe ‘live’ gaming is going to be very big in the coming years and, as such, a significant investment in this business makes perfect sense. This agreement enables us to offer our licensees unique TV quality gaming shows and enrich their offering to gamers. NetPlay operates the Supercasino, Bingos and EuroTeleMillions online brands. Weizer explicitly mentioned the value of adding Netplay’s online Bingos brand to Playtech’s bingo platform. Playtech’s online bingo network will suffer a liquidity drop when one of their leading licensees, Betfred switches to Virtue Fusion which is expected soon. A company called Directforce Trading purchased shares representing 29.9% of NetPlay, this provides a new cash injection into NetPlay. Directforce Trading is also a significant shareholder in Playtech. NetPlay CEO Martin Higginson said: “The investment of £12.8m into our business, along with the strategic relationship both in terms of distribution and technology with Playtech, will enable us to drive the development of our converged online gambling solutions.” The share placing will be subject to the approval of the company’s shareholders.