Colombia has issued its latest online gambling license to a joint venture of local casino operator Vicca Group and international online platform provider GAMING1.
This week, Colombian gaming regulator Coljuegos announced the awarding of online casino and sports betting licenses to the 50:50 partnership of Vicca and GAMING1, marking the first time this honor has been bestowed on an international firm.
GAMING1 is the online B2B division of Belgian casino operator Ardent Group (formerly Circus Group). Vicca Group operates 16 “high-end boutique casinos” in six Colombian cities and boasts a workforce of over 1,200 staffers.
The nation’s newest online gambling site will operate from the Zamba.co domain, which is currently taking preregistrations from customers. The site’s betting and casino products will also be available via mobile apps. For the moment, GAMING1 is providing all game content, but other providers’ titles are expected to be added shortly.
GAMING1 has a history of establishing joint venture deals with land-based gaming operators, including helping to launch Portugal’s first online casino last year via a partnership with local casino operator Estoril Sol and a similar deal with Spanish land-based operator Grupo Orenes. GAMING1 recently inked a social casino deal with Switzerland’s Gran Casino Baden in anticipation of that country’s authorization of real-money online gambling.
GAMING1 CEO Sylvain Boniver said his company was “hugely proud” to be the first Colombian licensee to launch a combined online casino and sports betting operation, and praised Colombia for “setting the benchmark in Latin America with its robust regulatory framework similar to those seen in the European market.”
Vicca Group CEO Rodrio Afanador hailed GAMING1 as “the perfect international partner” with which to tackle Colombia’s online market, and said the company’s product line had ‘impressed us immensely.”
Coljuegos previously issued online permits to local operators Aquila Global Group and Corredor Empressarial, and recently announced that four more operators were waiting in the wings, including Spanish operators Codere and Sportium, as well as the Bogota-based E Total Gaming.
