Michael Bauer, Greentube: “Using acquisitions to strengthen our local offering”

Michael Bauer, Greentube’s CFO/CGO, reflects on the company’s recent acquisitions of local games studios as an integral part of Greentube’s strategy to ensure that the company offers the type of content that regional players really want.

Opinion.- In recent years, Greentube has grown exponentially through the acquisition of local games studio with the aim of entering new markets and expanding its presence in the world.

In this article, Michael Bauer, Greentube’s CFO/CGO, explains how the company carried out this strategy and what the plans are for the future.

If you look up the definition of localisation you will find ‘the adaptation of a product or service to meet the needs of a particular language, culture or population’. Localisation is quickly becoming a buzzword in the iGaming sector, with suppliers and operators highlighting the importance of their offering being tailored to specific demographics as the increasing spread of regulation globally allows the industry to enter new and unexplored markets.

At Greentube, we strongly believe that localised content is the best approach when tackling a market and it’s an area that we focus a lot of time and resources on. 

We have recently announced several acquisitions of local games studios, an integral part of our strategy to ensure that we offer the type of content that regional players really want. This approach has its risks, but we work hard to find studios that fit into the wider company and provide something new to our offering. We look for studios that can enlarge or broaden our games portfolio, both in terms of game styles and local content that we do not yet offer. 

Although player preferences can differ marginally between some jurisdictions, there are others where very specific content is king. Adding a studio with local know-how and a long-standing relationship with its regional players gives us as a supplier a huge advantage that means we can significantly and rapidly strengthen our position in a market. 

There are certain jurisdictions where, in our opinion, it makes more sense to acquire an established studio with an existing offering rather than try to create content from scratch as a new supplier in the region. The Dutch market is a case in point, where we recently acquired Eurocoin Interactive, now known as Greentube Netherlands. Eurocoin had built up a fantastic reputation as a supplier of localised Dutch content, in a country where retro-style AWP games are very popular. 

Most recently, Capecod Solutions was added to the Greentube portfolio, an Italian aggregator and supplier of localised content. 

Furthermore, we have acquired a number of operator brands as this combined B2B and B2C approach hugely helps in certain markets where having our own platform to launch our content offers an advantage. 

These acquisitions provide something different to our existing content portfolio, enhance our local reach, and bolster our omni-channel strategy, strengthening our hand across both online and land-based sectors. 

Other regions where we consider acquisition as a key part of our growth strategy include the emerging US states where local knowledge and existing networks and contacts are important, as well as the Nordics – particularly Sweden – where we believe our content offering could be further tailored for enhanced reach.  

When we add a new studio to our roster, we want to bring new and unique content, but also an additional, different elements that can help enhance the company culture. A business’s most important asset is often its people and it’s important to ensure that talent stays on after acquisition. A smooth integration process is crucial, within which we meet and bond with the new studio to make them part of the Greentube family while ensuring they preserve their own identity. Depending on the situation, we might decide to keep the brand of the acquired studio if they already have a well-established product and network, while others become a pure Greentube brand. The original unique selling point will never be changed, however, as this is what attracted us to the company in the first places.

With several different brands under our Greentube umbrella, we have numerous roadmaps to consider and it’s important we avoid clashes of titles that are too similar to our existing offering. The goal is to ensure our portfolio is constantly enriched and we work closely with each studio to fulfil its pipeline. As a supplier, Greentube is known for having a broad and diverse range of content, driven by different studios developing content under the brand, and this is what makes us unique as a supplier. 

We have seen some great results from our recent acquisitions and are confident this is the best tactic as we continue our multi-jurisdiction approach. We are currently looking at other global markets and are reviewing opportunities that will see us boost our offering by adding new studios to our brand. 

If the fit is right, we will take the plunge, and with 2022 set to be a year of significant growth for Greentube, we are not hitting the brakes any time soon.