Kenya-based sports betting operator SportPesa is walking back threats to close its local operations if the government doesn’t rethink proposed gambling tax hikes.

On Friday, SportPesa made headlines by announcing that it would shut its Kenyan operations by January 1, 2018, the same day that the new uniform 35% tax on gambling revenue is set to take effect. Company officials stated that the hike from the existing 7.5% tax on betting revenue would render their local operations unsustainable.

But Sunday saw the official Twitter accounts of both SportPesa and its founder/CEO Ronald Karauri post a series of statements to its “esteemed customers” indicating that the company was “the first and remains the best gaming brand in Kenya and SportPesa will be the last gaming operator to ever close in Kenya for whatever reason.”

Friday’s Kenyan media reports were awash in quotes from SportPesa Global CEO Gerasim Nikolov regarding the planned closure, while Karauri was quoted saying “every single local player in the industry will be kicked out” once Kenya’s tax plans took effect.