NOVOMATIC subsidiary Greentube has acquired a controlling interest in BlueBat Games, the Vancouver-based business which helped to develop the company's Greentube Pro turnkey social marketing platform.

BlueBat has worked with Greentube since May last year, when it partnered the business to develop the Greentube Pro turnkey social marketing platform. It also created the BlueBox Engine, a social gamification product designed to help clients increase player engagement.

Greentube said that the deal would further expand its US presence by giving it access to a technology extension, allowing it to develop white label solutions for land-based casino operators. The companies have already collaborated on a B2C social casino product, Magic Key Casino, which features a selection of Greentube’s real-money games repurposed as free-to-play products.

"We worked closely with the BlueBat team on a number of projects in the past year", Greentube chief executive Thomas Graf said of the partnership with BlueBat. "After the launch of Greentube Pro, it became apparent that BlueBat and Greentube's approach to social gaming were in direct alignment. The acquisition was the next logical step in our progression." Greentube is a leading European B2B supplier in the online gaming segment and a leading provider of social gaming in Europe, the United States and Australasia.

Founded in 2011 by former Electronic Arts veterans Kenny Huang, who serves as the CEO, and chief technology officer Tim Harris, BlueBat has also created a selection of penny slot games. The purchase further strengthens Greentube’s suite of iGaming solutions, with the supplier having recently established Stakelogic, a dedicated 3D slot development studio, focused on creating a line of innovative new mobile products.
 

The NOVOMATIC Group is one of the biggest producers and operators of gaming technologies and one of the largest integrated gaming companies in the world. The group employs more than 22,000 staff worldwide. Founded by entrepreneur Professor Johann F. Graf, the Group has locations in more than 50 countries and exports high-tech electronic gaming equipment and solutions to 80 countries. The Group operates more than 232,000 gaming machines in its about 1,500 plus traditional and electronic casinos as well as via rental concepts.

Part of the Group is also Admiral Sportwetten GmbH, Austria‘s leading sports betting operator with more than 200 outlets as well as the Vienna based online gaming specialist Greentube Internet Entertainment Solutions GmbH. With the acquisition of Betware and the foundation of NOVOMATIC Lottery Solutions in 2013 the Group entered the lottery business segment and thus completed its transition into a truly integrated gaming concern.

The main markets of the group are the Member States of the European Union; the Central, Eastern and South Eastern European markets where NOVOMATIC was, due to its early market entry, able to establish an excellent position; as well as expanding markets with exceptional growth such as Latin America and the US.