Unibet comes to Spanish settlement
4 October 2012(PRESS RELEASE) -- In May 201,2 a number of online gaming companies who had applied for a licence to operate in the Spanish market entered into agreements with the Spanish tax authority to pay betting taxes for the period from 1 January 2009 to 27 May 2011 under two laws from 1966 and 1977 respectively that had previously been applied only to offline betting activities.
Unibet has now finalized discussions with the Spanish tax authorities in respect of its previous activities targeting the Spanish market in the period from January 2009 to May 2011.
As a result, Unibet will make a one-off payment, covering betting duties, interest and penalties, of EUR 3.2 million (approximately GBP 2.6 million) and will recognise this as an additional expense in cost of sales in the third quarter ended 30 September 2012.
This is a non-recurring item related to historic activities, as Unibet did not apply for a B2C gaming licence under the new Spanish gaming law and does not currently target the Spanish market.
Kambi, Unibet’s B2B provider, has been awarded a Spanish B2B gaming licence and has already secured contracts with Spanish customers including Acrismatic and Egasa, as previously announced.