BetFirst, the sports betting and gaming operator acquired by Besson last year, has launched an online casino in Belgium in partnership with Middelkerke Casino, owned by Groupe Partouche.
Mr Besson acquired Belgium’s Betfirst Group in June 2023 in a deal worth €120m (£102.6m/$129.8m), giving the group access to the Belgian Squid casino market. We also signed an agreement to partner with Partouche.
The new online casino has an A+ casino license through an agreement with Middelkerke Casino, and betFIRST aims to become the “national leading operator” of online casinos.
betFIRST entered gaming after becoming the first operator to obtain an online betting license in Belgium following market regulation in 2011.
Alexis Murphy, CEO of betFIRST, said: “betFIRST already has the best performing and fastest sports betting app on the Belgian market. We want to replicate this success by offering the most comprehensive mobile casino in Belgium. ”
Jesper Svendsen, CEO of Besson Operations, said: “We acquired the Belgian market leader last summer and are delighted to be able to add value to our already business through this unique partnership. ” he added.
Belgium takes another step in Besson’s expansion
Besson’s move to add online casinos to its Belgian offering was anticipated following its partnership with French casino operator Groupe Partouche.
The partnership was expected to initially focus on Belgium, with the aim of launching in other regulated markets later.
Two of those markets are France and Switzerland, with Groupe Partouche operating land-based casinos in both countries. Online casinos are legal in Switzerland and currently illegal in France, although there have been recent attempts to legalize them.
Besson also received a license to offer online sports betting in France in September, a move that came after announcing its entry into the Serbian market earlier that month.