Louise Agran is leaving her role as Chief Marketing Officer at the Spotlight Sports Group, home to the Racing Post, at the end of September and will be replaced by Gethin Evans, currently Digital Marketing Director.

Agran said ‘After twelve years, I have decided to take voluntary redundancy after the most incredible time working for the Racing Post and latterly the Spotlight Sports Group. It has been a total pleasure and privilege to work with such amazing people on fascinating brands and I have enjoyed more or less every single minute of it. Despite my huge affection and passion for the company, the time is right for me to move on and do something else. My very talented colleague and friend, Gethin Evans, will take over as Chief Marketing Officer for the Spotlight Sports Group from 1st October and I know he is going to do an absolutely brilliant job.’

Evans said ‘I am delighted to be taking the role of Chief Marketing Officer at Spotlight Sports Group. I believe we are set up to accelerate growth further thanks to the fantastic work Louise has done to help transform the business during her time here. From starting the digital transformation, integrating the businesses we acquired and building a high-performance culture – she leaves a formidable legacy. We have big plans across our brands, both in terms of content and partnerships and I can’t wait to get going.’

Spotlight Sports Group is the home to highly successful brands in the betting world including Racing Post, one of the most recognised and trusted names in sports betting with more than 34 years of intimate industry experience. The global reach and sports expertise are further strengthened by My Racing, Free Super Tips, Pickswise and Intellr. The specialist international agency services, ICS-digital and ICS-translate, help improve clients’ effectiveness in the marketplace by driving extended reach and increased traffic through performance marketing and by providing expertise in SEO, content marketing, digital PR and translation services.

Aspire Global has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of BtoBet Ltd, a leading B2B sportsbook and technology provider. The acquisition of the sportsbook constitutes a key part of Aspire Global’s growth strategy since it is a major step in creating an offering that covers the main elements of the B2B iGaming value chain. Together with the acquisition last year of the leading aggregator and games studio Pariplay, the purchase of BtoBet’s sportsbook platform positions Aspire Global among the world’s leading iGaming suppliers.

The purchase price is €20 million in cash of which €15 million at closing and €5 million twelve months after closing. In addition, there is an additional consideration based on BtoBet’s performance two years after closing. This consideration is seven times BtoBet’s EBIT in the second year from closing date minus the purchase price of €20 million. In 2019, BtoBet had revenues of €4.4 million and an EBITDA of €1.5 million and in the first six months of 2020 revenues were €3.1 million and EBITDA €1.2 million. The transaction is supposed to be closed during Q4 2020 with material positive effect on Aspire Global’s EBITDA as of 2021. The acquisition is not expected to have any material effect on the financial results in 2020. BtoBet is headquartered in Gibraltar and has almost 100 employees, the majority of which are based in the offices in Italy and North Macedonia.

With the proprietary sportsbook Aspire Global will control the IP in the full value chain and consequently also steer the complete roadmap. In addition, the proprietary sportsbook provides Aspire Global with the highest flexibility when it comes to adding new features and securing fast time to market.

BtoBet has 32 operators on its platform in Europe, Latin America and Africa. The company is a leading provider in Latin America and Africa and with the acquisition Aspire Global, with its broad presence in Europe and recent establishment in the US, takes a prime position also in these two growing markets. BtoBet’s platform, named Neuron 3, provides operators with the core technology for a player-centric environment to facilitate their player interaction in placing their bet in any channels of choice. The result is a betting experience with an accentuated entertainment perspective based on the seamless transition of the core technology which adapts to various scenarios related to the players’ behaviour through any channel, any jurisdictions and markets’ requirements.

Tsachi Maimon, CEO of Aspire Global, said: “Aspire Global now enters the sports betting arena with storm strength. With the acquisition of BtoBet we have become a true global B2B company which owns and provides an iGaming platform, sports betting, casino games and games aggregator as well as managed services for all continents and markets. Aspire Global can now compete for any deal, big or small, that exists out there.”

Tsachi Maimon continued: “This is a perfect match. We are impressed by the qualities of the Neuron Sports platform and in addition we will get access to new growth markets, new potential big deals and new opportunities.”

Alessandro Fried, founder and shareholder of BtoBet, said: “I am truly enthusiastic by the opportunities we see by becoming part of Aspire Global, the powerhouse for iGaming operators. With our joined forces we will take this new global iGaming offering in every corner of the earth. We have been in the industry for a long period of time and finally we met the perfect partner that matches our vision and with which we can build a stronger presence globally.”

Here are this weeks latest slots releases!

The much awaited ‘Lucky Scarabs’ by Booming Games is about to be made available in all the best casinos. Shane Cotter, Booming Games’ Director of Product says, “This game promises to be a wild ride; as scarab beetle after scarab beetle pour onto the reels creating wild wins everywhere you look. And it gets even wilder in Free Spins, with the addition of Sticky Scarab Wilds making for some huge wins.”

Gamzix has released their new product – Book of Symbols slot – the demo version of which is already available on their website. The main plot of the Book of Symbols slot is a search for treasures in the pyramids of Ancient Egypt. The game is filled with sacred symbols, hieroglyphs and scarabs, following which the player goes the way to the divine light. Overcoming all trials, you gain eternal youth of the soul, living beyond space and time. The high quality 3D design makes it possible to appreciate all the advantages of the slot even better, and the music brings it closer to the theme of the game.

Yggdrasil, has released its latest YG Masters title, 2 Gods Zeus vs Thor, in partnership with 4ThePlayer after a successful limited exclusive launch with GVC. The five-reel slot features world first feature DUAL SPIN™, with Red or Blue spins corresponding with the different Gods on the reels. If the winning spin matches the reel, it is doubled. When the Win Spins bonus is triggered after three scatter symbols land, every spin is a win with an ever-increasing multiplier, which grows as players correctly guess who wins, Zeus or Thor. Win Spins are also packed with retriggers, creating an immersive gaming experience like no other.

iSoftBet, the leading online and mobile casino content provider, has released the thrilling Western Gold Megaways™ to its network, following a successful exclusive period with operators. Brands including Betsson, Stoiximan, Softswiss and 10cric have had exclusive access to the game before being rolled out to the iSoftBet network. The game proved incredibly popular with Betsson players, leading to Western Gold Megaways™ taking the crown as its most successful exclusive partner launch ever. This new Megaways™ title, set in a frontier town of the Wild West, features classic cascading wins as well as a random “Max Megaways” modifier which can trigger at any time, guaranteeing the maximum number of 117,649 ways and a shot at multiple cascading wins.

Wrapped in brilliant graphics and splendid animation, this slot has a great potential to become the highlight for all curiosities. We call it the Chance Machine saga by Endorphina. This classic 5-reel, 3-row, 20 fixed-line online slot provides players with shimmering reels and symbols. It is a perfect fusion of quality design, a classic theme and solid mathematics. The best gemstone cutters worked on the symbols of this dazzling slot. The beautiful Crown acts like a wild symbol that appears on 2,3 and 4 reels and substitutes for all symbols and expands vertically to complete the combination to amaze players with wins. Gold and brilliant stars are the scatter symbols that count on any position on the reel.

Play’n GO have unleashed their latest offerings into the markets today and, in an unprecedented move have released not one, not two but THREE brand new titles, in what they are calling The Wealth Series. The Wealth Series consists of Celebration of Wealth, Temple of Wealth and Beast of Wealth; three titles that come together to create a complete overall gaming experience. Each game is based around different cultural aspects of prosperity featuring various signs and symbols of wealth. While each game contains its own free spins feature, giving players the choice and control of how they wish to play the feature.

NetEnt is offering players a feature-packed sail across the reels in Rage of the Seas, the new addition to its award-winning portfolio. The 5×4 video slot, which has expanding reels that can create up to 5488 betways, is rich with features, including Spreading Wilds and Stacked Wilds, as well as Major and Minor Reel Upgrades to boost winning potential. The base game also offers a double Multiplier, Free Spins and Extra Free Spins, creating an action-packed gaming experience that maintains engagement levels throughout the session. One unique feature with Rage of the Seas is that it offers two ways to get into Free Spins, either via collecting Scatters or by opening up all areas. The Free spin feature also offers the same double multiplier as the base game does.

Pragmatic Play, a leading content provider to the gaming industry, has released its combat-filled futuristic escapade, Star Bounty. The supplier’s latest 4×6, 4,096 payline title sees players exploring space as they search for big bounties amongst the stars with high-tech weaponry. With Tumbling wins ensuring every winning spin is prolonged, and a missile feature which fires into random symbols on reels two, three and four, turning them into Wilds, Star Bounty is another action-packed addition to the Pragmatic Play portfolio.

Playson transports players back in time on a mystical African adventure with the launch of its new game, Rise of Egypt Deluxe. Set in the legendary land of pyramids and Gods, this 3×5 videoslot with 20 paylines sees Playson update its classic, Rise of Egypt, with additional thrilling features. This new title has been developed with excitement at its core and is the first to give Playson fans the option to purchase game features, in this case, Free Spins. The Wild symbol is pristinely drawn as an Egyptian Bastet and substitutes all symbols except the Scatter. When the Cat Goddess lands, it expands on the whole reel if it can compose a winning combination and appears on reels 2, 3 and 4.