PlayUp continues acquisition spree, ICO plans; Nedscoin hype

Australian online gaming operator PlayUp has bolstered its down under presence via the acquisition of betting operator ClassicBet and Topbetta’s retail betting business.

On Friday, PlayUp Australia Pty Ltd announced that it had struck a deal to acquire corporate bookmaker Classicbet Pty Ltd, which holds an online and telephone betting license in the state of New South Wales. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but PlayUp claims Classicbet is a “mid-tier” wagering operator that handles annual wagers of around A$200m.

On Monday, PlayUp announced that it was acquiring the retail bookmaking operations of Australian operator TopBetta, which has chosen to shift its focus to growing its Global Tote operation. The deal will cost PlayUp A$6m in cash and 800m of PlayUp’s Ethereum-based PlayChip Utility Token cryptocurrency (more on this later).

The two deals follow last week’s announcement that PlayUp had acquired the DraftStars fantasy sports operation from Australian online betting operator CrownBet, which was itself recently acquired by PokerStars parent company The Stars Group.