As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 12, 2022
Registration No. 333-268533
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
AMENDMENT NO. 1
TO
FORM S-1S-1/A
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
ELYS GAME TECHNOLOGY, CORP.
NEWGIOCO GROUP, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware | 7372 | 33-0823179 | ||
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
Newgioco Group, Inc.
Elys Game Technology, Corp.
130 Adelaide Street, West, Suite 701
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 2K4
+39-391-306-41341 (628) 258-5148
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)office)
Michele Ciavarella B.Sc.
Executive Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer
Newgioco Group, Inc.
130 Adelaide Street, West, Suite 701
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 2K4
+39-391-306-41341 (628) 258-5148
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
with copies toCopies to:
Leslie Marlow, Esq. | Barry I. Grossman, Esq. Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP |
_________________________
Leslie Marlow, Esq.
Hank Gracin, Esq.
Patrick J. Egan, Esq.
Gracin & Marlow, LLP
The Chrysler Building
405 Lexington Avenue, 26th Floor
New York, New York 10174
(212) 907-6457
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: From time to time As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement.registration statement.
If any of the securitiesSecurities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, check the following box: ☒
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statementRegistration Statement number of the earlier effective registration statementRegistration Statement for the same offering. offering: ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statementRegistration Statement number of the earlier effective registration statementRegistration Statement for the same offering. offering: ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statementRegistration Statement number of the earlier effective registration statementRegistration Statement for the same offering. offering: ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | ||
Non-accelerated | Smaller reporting company | ☒ | ||
Emerging | Growth Company ☐ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check markcheckmark if the registrant has not elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
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CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
Title of each class of securities to be registered |
Amount to be Registered | Proposed Maximum Offering Price per Security(1)(2) | Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price | Amount of registration fee(3) |
Shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of Common Stock Purchase Warrants (2) | 183,504 | $1.66 | $304,617 | $33.24 |
Total | 183,504 | $1.66 | $304,617 | $33.24 |
The Registrantregistrant hereby amends this Registration Statementregistration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrantregistrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statementregistration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act or until the Registration Statementregistration statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
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The information contained in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the Registration Statementregistration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS | SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED DECEMBER 12, 2022 |
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
SUBJECT TO COMPLETION DATED OCTOBER 21, 2020
183,504
Up to 31,407,035 Units (each Unit contains One Share of Common Stock, One Series A Common Warrant to Purchase [●] Share of Common Stock and One Series B
Common Warrant to Purchase [●] Share of Common Stock)
Up to [●] Pre-Funded Units (each Pre-Funded Unit contains One Pre-Funded Warrant to Purchase
One Share of Common Stock, One Series A Common Warrant to Purchase [●] Share of Common Stock and One Series B Common Warrant to Purchase [●] Share of Common Stock)
Shares of Common Stock Underlying the Series A Common Warrants and Series B Common Warrants and
Shares of Common Stock Underlying the Pre-Funded Warrants
This prospectus relates to the resale of
We are offering up to 183,504 shares (the “Shares”)31,407,035 units, each unit consisting of one share of our common stock, par value $0.0001one Series A common warrant to purchase [●] share of our common stock and one Series B common warrant to purchase [●] share of our common stock (the “Common Stock”) bySeries A common warrants and Series B common warrants, collectively, the common warrants), based on an assumed offering price of $0.1592 per share, which is the last reported sale price for our securityholders (the “selling stockholders”),common stock as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market on December 6, 2022. Each common warrant contained in a unit will have an exercise price per share equal to $ [●] per share. The Series A common warrants contained in the units will be exercisable immediately and will expire on the five year anniversary of the original issuance date. The Series B common warrants contained in the units will be exercisable beginning on the effective date of our stockholders’ approval of either an increase in the number of our authorized shares of common stock or a reverse stock split, in either case in an amount sufficient to permit the exercise in full of the Series B common warrants, and will expire on the fifth anniversary of the original issuance date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we will only issue Series B common warrants as part of the units if we do not have sufficient authorized shares to allow for the issuance of Series A common warrants to purchase one full share of common stock per unit. If we issue Series B common warrants, they will be issued pro rata to all of which are issuable upon exercise of warrants (the “Warrants”) issued topurchasers in the selling stockholders. Please refer to the section of this prospectus entitled “Selling Stockholders” for additional information regarding the Selling Stockholders.offering.
We are not selling any Sharesalso offering the opportunity to purchase, if the purchaser so chooses, up to [●] pre-funded units to purchasers whose purchase of units in this offering. We, therefore,offering would otherwise result in the purchaser, together with its affiliates and certain related parties, beneficially owning more than 4.99% of our outstanding common stock immediately following the consummation of this offering (each pre-funded unit consisting of one pre-funded warrant to purchase one share of our common stock and one common warrant to purchase one share of our common stock) in lieu of units that would otherwise result in a purchaser’s beneficial ownership exceeding 4.99% of our outstanding common stock (or at the election of the purchaser, 9.99%). Each pre-funded warrant contained in a pre-funded unit will be exercisable for one share of our common stock. The purchase price of each pre-funded unit is equal to the price per unit being sold to the public in this offering, minus $0.0001, and the exercise price of each pre-funded warrant included in the pre-funded unit is $0.0001 per share. The pre-funded warrants will be immediately exercisable and may be exercised at any time until all of the pre-funded warrants are exercised in full. Each common warrant contained in a pre-funded unit will have an exercise price per share equal to $ [●] per share. The common warrants contained in the pre-funded units will have the same terms as the common warrants included in the units.
For each pre-funded unit we sell, the number of units we are offering will be decreased on a one-for-one basis. Because we will issue Series A and Series B common warrants as part of each unit or pre-funded unit, the number of common warrants sold in this offering will not receive any proceeds fromchange as a result of a change in the salemix of the Shares byunits and pre-funded units sold.
We are also registering the Selling Stockholders. We will, however, receive proceedscommon stock issuable from time to time upon exercise of the Warrants, if exercised on a cash basis.
common warrants and pre-funded warrants included in the units and pre-funded units offered hereby. See “Description of Capital Stock — Securities We have paid and will pay the expenses incurredAre Offering” in registering the Shares, including legal and accounting fees. See “Plan of Distribution.”this prospectus for more information.
The Selling Stockholdersunits and the pre-funded units will not be issued or certificated. The shares of common stock or pre-funded warrants, as the case may sellbe, and the Shares described in this prospectus in a number of different ways and at varying prices. The prices at which the Selling Stockholders may sell the Sharescommon warrants can only be purchased together in this offering but the securities contained in the units or pre-funded units will be determined by the prevailing market price for the shares of our common stock or in negotiated transactions. See “Plan of Distribution” for more information about how the Selling Stockholders may sell the Shares being registered pursuant to this prospectus. The Selling Stockholders may be deemed “underwriters” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(11) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Selling Stockholders have informed us that they do not have any agreement or understanding, directly or indirectly, with any person to distribute the Shares.issued separately.
Our common stock issued is tradedlisted on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “NWGI”.“ELYS.” On October 20, 2020,December 6, 2022, the last reported sales pricessale price of our common stockCommon Stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market was $1.66.$0.1592 per share. We have assumed a public offering price of $0.1592 per unit, which is the last reported sale price for our common stock as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market on December 6, 2022, and $0.1591 per pre-funded unit. The public offering price per unit or pre-funded unit, as the case may be, will be determined between us and the placement agent based on market conditions at the time of pricing, and may be at a discount to the current market price of our common stock. The public offering price will be the same for all purchasers in this offering. There is no established public trading market for the common warrants or the pre-funded warrants, and we do not expect a market to develop. In addition, we do not intend to apply for listing of the common warrants or the pre-funded warrants on any national securities exchange or other trading market. Without an active trading market, the liquidity of the warrants will be limited.
We will only have one closing in this offering and we expect this offering to be completed not later than two business days following the commencement of this offering. We will deliver all securities to be issued in connection with this offering delivery versus payment/receipt versus payment upon receipt of investor funds received by us. Accordingly, neither we nor the placement agent have made any arrangements to place investor funds in an escrow account or trust account since the placement agent will not receive investor funds in connection with the sale of the securities offered hereunder.
We have engaged Maxim Group LLC as our exclusive placement agent (“Maxim” or the “placement agent”) to use its reasonable best efforts to solicit offers to purchase our securities in this offering. There are no minimum purchase requirements. We may not sell the entire amount of the securities being offered pursuant to this prospectus and will only have one closing in this offering. The placement agent has no obligation to purchase any of the securities from us or to arrange for the purchase or sale of any specific number or dollar amount of the securities but will use its best efforts to arrange to sell all such securities up to the maximum of $5,000,000. Because there is no minimum offering amount required as a condition to closing in this offering the actual public offering amount, placement agent’s fee, and proceeds to us, if any, are not presently determinable and may be substantially less than the total maximum offering amounts set forth above and throughout this prospectus. We have agreed to pay the placement agent the placement agent fees set forth in the table below. See “Plan of Distribution” in this prospectus for more information. The offering will terminate on the earlier of the date on which all units offered are sold, or January 31, 2023. There will be one closing and each purchaser will pay the same price for the units.
Per Unit 100% | Per Pre-Funded Unit 100% | Total 100% | ||||||||||
Public offering price | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Placement agent fees (1) | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Offering proceeds to us, before expenses(2) | $ | $ | $ |
(1) | Represents a cash fee equal to 7.0% of the aggregate purchase price paid by investors in this offering. We have also agreed to reimburse the placement agent for certain of its offering-related expenses. See “Plan of Distribution” beginning on page 111 of this prospectus for a description of the compensation to be received by the placement agent. |
(2) The amount of offering proceeds to us presented in this table does not give effect to any exercise of the common warrants or pre-funded warrants.
Investing in our securities involves various risks.a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 87 of this prospectus for a discussion of information that you should be considered in connection with an investmentconsider before investing in our securities.
Delivery of the securities offered hereby is expected to be made to purchasers on or about _____,2022, subject to customary closing conditions.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Maxim Group LLC
The date of this prospectus is _________, 2020December , 2022
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
PROSPECTUS SUMMARY | 1 |
THE OFFERING | |
RISK FACTORS | 7 |
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS | 28 |
USE OF PROCEEDS | |
DIVIDEND POLICY | |
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS | |
BUSINESS | |
MANAGEMENT AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS | |
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE | |
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION | |
MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS | |
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED | |
90 | |
DESCRIPTION OF | |
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION | 110 |
WHERE YOU CAN FIND | |
115 | |
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
The registration statement containing
You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus includingor in any free writing prospectus that we may specifically authorize to be delivered or made available to you. We have not, and the exhibitsplacement agent has not, authorized anyone to provide you with any information other than that contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus we may authorize to be delivered or made available to you. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the registration statement, provides additionalreliability of, any other information about usthat others may give you. We are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, the securities covered hereby only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. The information in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any sale of our securities. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date. We are not, and the common stock offeredplacement agent is not, making an offer of these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer is not permitted.
For investors outside the United States: We have not and the placement agent has not done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of securities covered hereby and the distribution of this prospectus outside the United States.
This prospectus contains estimates and other statistical data made by independent parties and by us relating to market size and growth and other data about our industry. We obtained the industry and market data in this prospectus from our own research as well as from industry and general publications, surveys and studies conducted by third parties. This data involves a number of assumptions and limitations and contains projections and estimates of the future performance of the industries in which we operate that are subject to a high degree of uncertainty, including those discussed in “Risk Factors.” We caution you not to give undue weight to such projections, assumptions and estimates. Further, industry and general publications, studies and surveys generally state that they have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. While we believe that these publications, studies and surveys are reliable, we have not independently verified the data contained in them. In addition, while we believe that the results and estimates from our internal research are reliable, such results and estimates have not been verified by any independent source.
Smaller Reporting Company – Scaled Disclosure
Pursuant to Item 10(f) of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as indicated herein, we have elected to comply with the scaled disclosure requirements applicable to “smaller reporting companies,” including providing two years of audited financial statements.
PROSPECTUS SUMMARY
This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this prospectus and does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making your investment decision. Before investing in our securities, you should carefully read this entire prospectus, including our financial statements and the related notes and the information set forth under the headings “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in each case included elsewhere in this prospectus. The registration statement, includingIn this prospectus, unless the exhibitscontext otherwise requires, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” “Elys” and the documents“Company” refer to Elys Game Technology, Corp.
Company Overview
We currently provide our business-to-consumer (“B2C”) gaming services in Italy through our subsidiary, Multigioco Srl (“Multigioco”), which operations are carried out via both land-based or online retail gaming licenses regulated by the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (“ADM”) that permits us to distribute leisure betting products such as sports betting, and virtual sports betting products through both physical, land-based retail locations as well as online through our licensed website www.newgioco.it or commercial webskins linked to our licensed website and through mobile devices. Management implemented a consolidation strategy in the Italian market by integrating all B2C operations into Multigioco and allowed the Austria Bookmaker license that was regulated by the Austrian Federal Finance Ministry (“BMF”) to terminate.
We also provide bookmaking services in the U.S. market via our recently acquired subsidiary Bookmakers Company US LLC (“USB”) in certain regulated states where we offer business-to-business (“B2B”) bookmaking and platform services to our customers. Our intention is to focus our attention on expanding the U.S. market. We recently began operations in Washington, D.C. through a Class B Managed Service Provider and Class B Operator license to operate a sportsbook within the Grand Central Restaurant and Sportsbook located in the Adams Morgan area of Washington, D.C., and in October 2021 we entered into an agreement with Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City and commenced operations in the state of New Jersey in March 2022.
Additionally, we provide B2B gaming technology through our Odissea subsidiary which owns and operates a betting software designed with a unique “distributed model” architecture colloquially named Elys Game Board (the “Platform”). The Platform is a fully integrated “omni-channel” framework that combines centralized technology for updating, servicing and operations with multi-channel functionality to accept all forms of customer payment through the two distribution channels described above. The omni-channel software design is fully integrated with a built in player gaming account management system, built-in sports book and a virtual sports platform through our Virtual Generation subsidiary. The Platform also provides seamless application programming interface integration of third-party supplied products such as online casino, poker, lottery and horse racing and has the capability to incorporate e-sports and daily fantasy sports providers. Management implemented a growth strategy to expand B2B gaming technology operations in the U.S. and is considering further expansion in Canada and Latin American countries in the near future.
Our corporate group is based in North America, which includes an executive suite situated in Las Vegas, Nevada and a Canadian office in Toronto, Ontario through which we carry-out corporate activities, handle day-to-day reporting and U.S. development planning, and through which various employees, independent contractors and vendors are engaged.
We operate two business segments in the leisure gaming industry and our revenue is derived as follows:
1. | Betting establishments |
Transaction revenue through our offering of leisure betting products to retail customers directly through our online distribution on websites or a betting shop establishment or through third party agents that operate white-label websites and/or land-based retail venues; and
2. | Betting platform software and services |
SaaS based service revenue through providing our Platform and virtual sports products to betting operators.
Summary Risk Factors
Our business and our ability to execute our business strategy are subject to a number of risks of which you should be aware of before you decide to buy our securities. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following which you should carefully consider and which are discussed more fully in the “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus.
Risks Related to our Financial Condition
·Because we have a limited operating history, we may not be able to successfully manage our business. | |
·We have incurred substantial losses in the past and it may be difficult to achieve profitability. | |
·If we do not have sufficient capital resources to complete acquisitions and manage our operations, our ability to implement our business plan could be adversely affected. | |
·If we fail to comply with the rules under Sarbanes-Oxley, or, if we discover additional material weaknesses in our internal control and accounting procedures, our stock price could decline significantly and raising capital could be more difficult. | |
·We have material weaknesses and other deficiencies in our internal control and accounting procedures. | |
·We expect to continue relying on our discretionary available cash and available bank credit facilities to fund our additional acquisitions or enter into new business opportunities. | |
·The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have strained and negatively impact our businesses and operations. |
Risks Related to our Business
·Changes in general economic conditions, geopolitical conditions, domestic and foreign trade policies, monetary policies and other factors beyond our control may adversely impact our business and operating results. | |
·USB has had limited operations to date. | |
·If we should lose our online or land-based licenses, or if the licenses are not renewed for any reason our business would be materially adversely impacted. | |
·Our inability to acquire such additional rights or operators or restrictions from using any licenses associated with such acquired operators, will result in an adverse effect on our operating results. | |
·If we are unable to respond to changes in consumer preferences, attract new customers or sell new or additional products, our future revenue and business will be adversely affected. | |
·If we fail to acquire, integrate and develop operators and new technologies on favorable economic terms, our future growth and operating results could be adversely affected. | |
·If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining relationships with third parties, our business may be adversely impacted. | |
·We cannot assure you that any acquisition we complete will result in short-term or long-term benefits to us. | |
·A decline in the popularity of our gaming websites or those of our Platform clients will negatively impact our business and risk our future growth. | |
·Because our gaming operations are largely concentrated within Italy at present, we are subject to greater risks than a gaming company that is more geographically and internationally diversified. | |
·Our current expansion strategy may be difficult to implement because the licensing and certification requirements to operate in the United States is complex and licensing requirements in other countries are currently indeterminable. | |
·Our inability to retain such officers and key employees or recruit additional qualified personnel may have a material adverse effect on our business. |
·If we are not able to maintain and enhance our brand, our business may be adversely affected. | |
·Any increased costs associated with third party developers or any delay or interruption in production may negatively affect both our ability to provide access to the Platform and our ability to continue our operations. | |
·If we are unable to collect payments from third party service providers or these payments decrease or do not increase as our costs increase, our financial condition and operating results may be adversely affected. | |
·Our business may be adversely impacted if we have a security incident or breach involving unauthorized access to customer data. | |
·Privacy concerns may result in significant costs and compliance challenges and adversely affect our business. | |
·If we are unable to maintain successful relationships with retail agents, partners, our business, operating results, and financial condition could be adversely affected. | |
·We may be unable to prevent third parties from using our technologies. | |
·If we fail to manage our growth effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan. | |
·We may not be able to successfully scale our technology and manage the growth of our business. | |
·Our estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth may prove to be inaccurate, and even if the market in which we compete achieves the forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all. | |
·Our research and development efforts are costly and subject to international risks. | |
·If we fail to manage our technical operations infrastructure, our customers may experience service outages and delays. | |
·We may not have exclusive control over the distribution of cash from any operators that we may acquire in the future. | |
·We may be liable for reporting errors made by operators we acquire. | |
·We will rely upon executive officers or key personnel of operators we may acquire for transition services. | |
·Any violation of any anti-corruption laws could have a negative impact on us. | |
·War, terrorism, other acts of violence or natural or manmade disasters could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. |
Risks Related to our Industry
·Economic conditions that have an adverse effect on the gaming industry may have an adverse effect on our results of operations. | |
·Intense competition in the leisure gaming industry may adversely affect our revenue and profitability. | |
·We expect that competition from internet gaming will continue to grow and intensify in the United States. | |
·If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we could suffer penalties or be required to make significant changes to our operations. | |
·Regulators at the federal and provincial level in Italy are monitoring and restricting the issuance and renewal of gaming licenses which could have an adverse effect on our growth. | |
·Our inability to acquire such additional location rights or operators or any restrictions, could result in an adverse effect on our operating results. | |
·Our records and submissions to regulatory agencies may contain inaccurate or unsupportable submissions which may result in an under or overstatement of our revenues and subject us to various penalties and may adversely affect our operations. | |
·We may become the subject of Italian federal and provincial investigations in the future . | |
·Our current operations are international in scope creating a variety of potential operational challenges. | |
·We face exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations that could harm our results of operations. |
Risks Related to Ownership of our Securities
·Our stock price has fluctuated in the past, has recently been volatile and may be volatile in the future. |
·Future sales of shares of our Common Stock or the perception in the public markets that these sales may occur, may depress our stock price. |
·We may issue additional shares of common stock and preferred stock without stockholder approval, which would dilute the current holders of our common stock. |
·The rights of the holders of our common stock may be impaired by the potential issuance of preferred stock. |
·If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports, or publish unfavorable research or reports about our business, our stock price and trading volume may decline. |
·Our failure to meet the continued listing requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market could result in a de-listing of our common stock. |
·Because certain of our stockholders control a significant number of shares of our common stock, they may have effective control over actions requiring stockholder approval. |
·Delaware law and our corporate charter and bylaws contain anti-takeover provisions that could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable. |
·Our certificate of incorporation has an exclusive forum for adjudication of disputes provision which limits the forum to the Delaware Court of Chancery for certain actions against us. |
·We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our shares of common stock so any returns will be limited to the value of our shares. |
·An active trading market for our common stock may not be maintained. |
·�� Warrants that we have issued are speculative in nature and have certain provisions that could deter an acquisition of our company. |
Risks Related to this Offering
·Management will have broad discretion with respect to the use of the proceeds from this offering. |
·There is no public market for the units, pre-funded units, common warrants or pre-funded warrants. |
·The warrants in this offering are speculative in nature. |
·Holders of the common warrants and pre-funded warrants will not have rights of holders of our shares of common stock until such common warrants and pre-funded warrants are exercised. |
·You may be unable to exercise the Series B Warrants and they may have no value if the number of shares of Common Stock issued pursuant to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part exceeds our number of authorized shares available for issuance and we are unable to obtain stockholder approval to effect a reverse stock split of our Common Stock or an increase of the number of shares of our authorized common stock. |
·This is a best efforts offering, no minimum amount of securities is required to be sold, and we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our business plans. |
·We may not receive any additional funds upon the exercise of the common warrants. |
·Provisions of the common warrants could result in a cash payment in the event of a fundamental transaction. |
·You will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the net tangible book value per share of the common stock included in the units or issuable upon exercise of the common warrants or pre-funded warrants in this offering and may experience additional dilution of your investment in the future. |
Corporate Information
Elys Game Technology, Corp. is a Delaware corporation incorporated hereinon August 26, 1998. On November 2, 2020, we changed our name from Newgioco Group, Inc. to Elys Game Technology, Corp. We currently maintain an executive suite situated at 107 East Warm Springs Road, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89119, where we also have the offices of USB, our subsidiary that we acquired in July 2021, a space in Toronto, Ontario, Canada through which the Company carries-out corporate activities, handles day-to-day reporting and U.S. development planning, and through which various employees, independent contractors and vendors are engaged, and the offices of our wholly-owned subsidiaries are located in Italy, Malta, Colombia and Austria. Our telephone number is 1-628-258-5148. Our corporate website address is www.elysgame.com. The information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference can be readinto this prospectus, and you should not consider any information contained on, the Securities and Exchange Commission website or at the Securities and Exchange Commission offices mentioned under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information.”
Information contained in, and that can be accessed through, our web site www.newgiocogroup.com shall not be deemed to bewebsite as part of this prospectus or incorporated herein by referencein deciding whether to purchase or sell our securities.
We have proprietary rights to a number of trademarks, service marks and trade names used in this prospectus which are important to our business including “New Gioco”, “NewAleabet”, “OriginalBet”, “LovingBet” and “Elys.” Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks and trade names in this prospectus are referred to without the ® and TM symbols, but such references should not be reliedconstrued as any indicator that their respective owners will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, their rights thereto. All other trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners.
THE OFFERING
Issuer | Elys Game Technology Corp. | |
Units offered by us in this offering | Up to 31,407,035 units (based on the assumed offering price) on a best efforts basis, each consisting of one share of our common stock, one Series A common warrant to purchase [ ] shares of our common stock and one Series B common warrant to purchase [ ] share of our common stock (Series B warrants will only be included in a unit if we do not have sufficient authorized shares to allow for the issuance of Series A warrants to purchase one full share). | |
Pre-funded units offered by us in this offering | We are also offering the opportunity to purchase, if the purchaser so chooses, up to 31,407,035 pre-funded units to purchasers whose purchase of units in this offering would otherwise result in the purchaser, together with its affiliates and certain related parties, beneficially owning more than 4.99% of our outstanding common stock immediately following the consummation of this offering (each pre-funded unit consisting of one pre-funded warrant to purchase one share of our common stock and one common warrant to purchase one share of our common stock) in lieu of units that would otherwise result in the purchaser’s beneficial ownership exceeding 4.99% of our outstanding common stock (or, at the election of the purchaser, 9.99%). The purchase price of each pre-funded unit is equal to the price at which the units are being sold to the public in this offering, minus $0.0001, and the exercise price of each pre-funded warrant included in each pre-funded unit is $0.0001 per share. For each pre-funded unit we sell, the number of units we are offering will be decreased on a one-for-one basis. Because we will issue a common warrant as part of each unit or pre-funded unit, the number of common warrants sold in this offering will not change as a result of a change in the mix of the units and pre-funded units sold. This prospectus also relates to the offering of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of any pre-funded warrants sold in this offering. | |
Common warrants offered by us in the offering | Common warrants to purchase an aggregate of 31,407,035 shares of our common stock in the form of Series A common warrants and, if necessary, Series B common warrants. Each common warrant will have an exercise price per share equal to $0.1592 per share and will be immediately separable from the common stock or pre-funded warrant, as the case may be. Each Series A common warrant will be immediately exercisable and will expire on the five year anniversary of the original issuance date. Each Series B common warrant will be exercisable beginning on the effective date our stockholders’ approval of either an increase in the number of our authorized shares of common stock or a reverse stock split, in either case in an amount sufficient to permit the exercise in full of the Series B common warrants, and will expire on the fifth anniversary of the original issuance date. We do not have a sufficient number of authorized shares to permit exercise of the Series B common warrants. In the event that we are unable to effect an increase in our authorized shares of common stock or a reverse split, in either case in an amount sufficient to permit the exercise in full of the Series B common warrants, the Series B common warrants will not be exercisable and therefore have no value. This prospectus also relates to the offering of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the common warrants. | |
Common stock to be outstanding after this offering (1) | 61,767,845 shares of common stock (assuming the sale of all securities offered hereby, at the assumed public offering price of $0.1592 per unit, the closing sale price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on December 6, 2022, and assuming the sale of no pre-funded warrant units and no exercise of the common warrants issued in this offering). | |
Use of Proceeds | We estimate that the net proceeds from this offering will be approximately $4,300,000 (assuming the sale of the maximum offering amount of securities offered hereby, at the assumed public offering price of $0.1592 per unit, the closing sale price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on December 6, 2022, and assuming no sale of any pre-funded units and no exercise of the warrants issued in this offering), after deducting the placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We intend to use the proceeds, after deducting placement agent’s fees and offering expenses, for working capital, capital expenditures, and other general corporate purposes. See “Use of Proceeds” on page 29 of this prospectus. |
Risk Factors | See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 7 and the other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of factors you should carefully consider before investing in our securities. | |
Market Symbol and trading | Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “ELYS.” There is no established trading market for the units, pre-funded units, common warrants or pre-funded warrants, and we do not expect a trading market for those securities to develop. We do not intend to list the units, pre-funded units, common warrants or pre-funded warrants on any securities exchange or other trading market. Without a trading market, the liquidity of those securities will be extremely limited. |
Reasonable best efforts | We have agreed to offer and sell the securities offered hereby to the purchasers through the placement agent. The placement agent is not required to buy or sell any specific number or dollar amount of the securities offered hereby, but it will use its reasonable best efforts to solicit offers to purchase the securities offered by this prospectus. See “Plan of Distribution” on page 111 of this prospectus. |
Except as otherwise indicated herein, the number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after this offering is based on 30,360,810 shares of common stock outstanding as of September 30, 2022 and excludes:
● | 2,384,063 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options with a weighted average exercise price of $3.07 per share as of September 30, 2022; |
● | 460,636 additional shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans as of September 30 2022; and |
● | 3,664,168 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding warrants with a weighted average exercise price of $1.17 per share as of September 30, 2022. |
RISK FACTORS
In addition to the other information contained in this registration statement, the following risk factors should be considered carefully in evaluating the Company. Our business, financial condition, liquidity, or results of operations could be materially adversely affected by any prospective investorsof these risks. Accordingly, when we refer to “our operators” below, it is with reference to operators that we currently own or are in the process of acquiring or may acquire in the future, regardless of the level of ownership or operators that are involved in joint ventures with us. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing our company, additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently consider immaterial may also have an adverse effect on us. If any of the matters discussed in the following risk factors were to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows or prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
Risks Related to our Financial Condition
Because we have a limited operating history, we may not be able to successfully manage our business or achieve profitability.
We have a limited operating history with respect to our gaming operations upon which you can evaluate our prospects and our potential value. We began our gaming operations in 2014, when we completed the acquisition of Multigioco, a corporation organized under the laws of the Republic of Italy, which is now our wholly owned subsidiary and was granted its ADM Comunitaria GAD (Online Gaming) license on July 4, 2012. As a result of the acquisition of Multigioco, our principal business became a licensed leisure gaming operator offering web-based and land-based sports betting, lottery and gaming products for our customers. The subsidiary that owns our Platform, Odissea, was acquired by us along with our Austrian bookmaker subsidiary, Ulisse in June 2016. In January 2019, we acquired Virtual Generation, a company that owns and has developed a virtual gaming software platform and we acquired US Bookmaking in July 2021. In addition, we commenced processing sports bets in the U.S. on a B2B basis in Washington D.C. in October 2021. Therefore, it is difficult to evaluate our business. If we cannot successfully manage our business, we may not be able to generate future profits and may not be able to support our operations.
The likelihood of our success and performance must be considered in light of the expenses, complications and delays frequently encountered in connection with the establishment and expansion of new business and the highly competitive environment in which we operate.
We have incurred substantial losses in the past and it may be difficult to achieve profitability.
We have a history of losses and are anticipated to incur additional losses in the development of our business. For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a net loss of $15.1 million after an intangible impairment charge of $17.4 million and a revised contingent purchase consideration credit of $11.9 million and a net loss of $10.2 million for the purposesnine months ended September 30, 2022. As of determining whetherSeptember 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 we had accumulated deficits of $58.4 million and $48.2 million, respectively. Since we are currently in the early stages of our development and strategy, we intend to purchasecontinue to invest in sales and marketing, product and solution development and operations, including the Shares offered hereunder.hiring of additional personnel, upgrading our technology and infrastructure and expanding into new geographical markets. Even if we are successful in increasing our customer base, we expect to also incur increased losses in the short term. Costs associated with entering new markets, acquiring clients, customers and operators are generally incurred up front, while service and transactional revenues are generally recognized at future dates if at all. Our efforts to grow our business may be more costly than we expect, and we may not be able to increase our revenues enough to offset our higher operating expenses. We may incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons, including the other risks described in this section, and unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications and delays and other unknown events. If we are unable to achieve and sustain profitability, the value of our business and common stock may significantly decrease.
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We have material weaknesses and other deficiencies in our internal control and accounting procedures.
Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our management assessed the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2021 and as of September 30, 2022 and concluded that we had a material weakness in our internal controls due to our limited resources and therefore our disclosure controls and procedures are not effective in providing material information required to be included in our periodic SEC filings on a timely basis and to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our periodic SEC filings is accumulated and communicated to our management to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure about our internal control over financial reporting. More specifically, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective due to material weaknesses related to a segregation of duties due to our limited resources and small number of employees. Due to limited staffing, we are not always able to detect minor errors or omissions in financial reporting. If we fail to comply with the rules under Sarbanes-Oxley related to disclosure controls and procedures in the future, or, if we continue to have material weaknesses and other deficiencies in our internal control and accounting procedures and disclosure controls and procedures, our stock price could decline significantly and raising capital could be more difficult. If additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies are discovered or if we otherwise fail to address the adequacy of our internal control and disclosure controls and procedures our business may be harmed. Moreover, effective internal controls are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important to helping prevent financial fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business and operating results could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, and the trading price of our securities could drop significantly.
You may be unable to exercise the Series B Warrants and they may have no value if the number of shares of Common Stock issued pursuant to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part exceeds our number of authorized shares available for issuance and we are unable to obtain stockholder approval to effect a reverse stock split of our Common Stock or an increase of the number of shares of our authorized Common Stock.
We have agreed to seek stockholder approval of an amendment to our certificate of incorporation to effect either an increase the number of authorized shares of common stock or a reverse split, in either case in an amount sufficient to permit the exercise in full of the Series B common warrants, and plan to seek approval for that purpose as well as to have shares available for future equity financings. There can be no assurance that we will receive such stockholder approval or that any source of capital will be available to us on acceptable terms. In addition, if one or more of the risks discussed in these risk factors occur or our expenses exceed our expectations, we may be required to raise further additional funds sooner than anticipated.
In addition, an increase in the authorized number of shares of common stock and the subsequent issuance of such shares could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our company without further action by our stockholders. Shares of authorized and unissued common stock could, within the limits imposed by applicable law, be issued in one or more transactions which would make a change in control of our company more difficult, and therefore less likely. Furthermore, there are risks associated with effecting a reverse split, including a decline in the market price of our common stock and the possibility of certain shareholders owning “odd lots” of less than 100 shares, which may be more difficult to sell, or require greater transaction costs per share to sell, than shares in “round lots” of even multiples of 100 shares. In addition, because holders of our common stock have no preemptive rights to purchase or subscribe for any unissued stock of our company, the availability of a greater number of authorized shares, whether as a result of a reverse split or an increase in the authorized number, could result in additional dilution to existing stockholders and investors in this offering.
If we do not have sufficient capital resources to complete acquisitions and manage our operations, our ability to implement our business plan could be adversely affected.
We intend to continue to make investments to support our business and may require additional funds to respond to business challenges, including the need to develop new features or enhance our existing solutions, improve our operating infrastructure or acquire complementary businesses and technologies. We continue to embark on an aggressive roll out of our operation in the U.S. market over the next twenty-four months and anticipate that we will need cash of approximately $10 million to $15 million to execute this successfully and to fund our increasing working capital requirements. Accordingly, we will need capital to implement our business plan, and may seek to finance operator acquisitions and development projects through bank, debt or equity financings. Disruptions to financial markets or other challenging economic conditions may adversely impact our ability to complete any such financings or the terms of any such financings may be unacceptable or unfavorable to us. To the extent that we issue equity securities in connection with our proposed acquisition, our current stockholders will experience dilution of their holdings. To the extent we incur debt, we may be subject to restrictive covenants that impact our ability to conduct our business. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to obtain financing necessary to implement our business plan or that any such financing will be on terms acceptable to us or be sufficient to fund existing operations over the next twelve months from the date hereof.
We expect to continue relying on our discretionary available cash and available bank credit facilities to fund our additional acquisitions or enter into new business opportunities, which bank credit facilities may not be available at reasonable terms, if at all.
We have recently initiated an ambitious investment strategy including taking steps to enter the U.S. market which has led to an increase in expenses. Our ability to execute our growth plan is dependent upon our ability to generate profits from operations in the future, bank credit facilities and/or our ability to obtain additional financing and such financing may not be available on reasonable terms, if at all.
If our acquired intangible assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings.
We regularly review acquired intangible assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. We test goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment at least annually. Factors that may be considered a change in circumstances, indicating that the carrying value of the intangible assets may not be recoverable, include: macroeconomic conditions, such as deterioration in general economic conditions; industry and market considerations, such as deterioration in the environment in which we operate; cost factors, such as increases in labor or other costs that have a negative effect on earnings and cash flows; our financial performance, such as negative or declining cash flows or a decline in actual or planned revenue or earnings compared with actual and projected results of relevant prior periods; other relevant entity-specific events, such as changes in management, key personnel, strategy, or customers; and sustained decreases in share price.
We are currently in dispute with the executive management of USB and will enter into a process of mediation with them, if the outcome of the mediation process is not favorable, we may seek relief from the courts, this could impact on our decision to continue operations in this entity which would have an impact on the carrying value of intangible assets, including goodwill.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have strained and negatively impact our businesses and operations, and the duration and extent to which COVID-19 may impact our future results of operations and overall financial performance remains uncertain.
The outbreak and spread of COVID-19 and the related adverse public health developments, have adversely affected work forces, economies and financial markets globally. The outbreak had caused the closures of physical locations throughout Italy where we provide our gaming services. Although most major sporting events and leagues have recommenced, the suspension of professional sports competitions throughout the world negatively impacted our ability to offer sports gaming products, and COVID-19 could have a continued material adverse impact on economic and market conditions and trigger a period of continued global economic slowdown, especially in light of potential subsequent waves or new strains of the virus. Our revenue depends on the continuation of major league sports and other sporting events, and we may not generate as much revenue as we would have without the cancellations or postponements that occurred in the wake of COVID-19.
In response to the spread of COVID-19 as well as guidance from public health directives, and orders of national and local government and health authorities, we had implemented work-from-home policies to support community efforts to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and protect employees. We implemented a number of measures to ensure employee safety and business continuity. Business travel was suspended, and online and teleconference technology was and still is used to meet virtually rather than in person. The effects of the governmental orders and our work-from-home policies had negatively impact productivity, disrupted our business and delayed our progress in implementing our business plan and our ability to conduct our business in the ordinary course. Our operations have mostly resumed normal operations within local government guidelines.
The global outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to rapidly evolve. The extent to which the COVID-19 outbreak may continue to impact our business will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, such as the ultimate geographic spread of the disease, the duration of any future outbreaks, additional travel restrictions and the reimplementation of social distancing in the United States and other countries, business closures or business disruptions and the effectiveness of actions taken in the United States and other countries to contain and treat the disease. We do not yet know the full extent or impacts on our business, operations, or the global economy as a whole. While the spread of COVID-19 may eventually be contained or mitigated, there is no guarantee that a future outbreak of this or any other widespread epidemics will not occur, or that the global economy will recover, either of which could continue to impact on our business.
Risks Related to our Business
Changes in general economic conditions, geopolitical conditions, domestic and foreign trade policies, monetary policies and other factors beyond our control may adversely impact our business and operating results.
Our operations and performance depend on global, regional and U.S. economic and geopolitical conditions. Russia’s invasion and military attacks on Ukraine have triggered significant sanctions from U.S. and European leaders. Resulting changes in U.S. trade policy and European policies could trigger retaliatory actions by Russia, its allies and other affected countries, including China, resulting in a “trade war.” Furthermore, if the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues for a long period of time, or if other countries, including the U.S., become further involved in the conflict, we could face significant adverse effects to our business and financial condition. Although we have not experienced any material adverse effects on our business due to increasing inflation, it has raised operating costs for many businesses and, in the future, could impact demand for our services, foreign exchange rates or employee wages. We are actively monitoring the effects these disruptions and increasing inflation could have on our operations.
The above factors, including a number of other economic and geopolitical factors both in the U.S. and abroad, could ultimately have material adverse effects on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows, including the following:
· | effects of significant changes in economic, monetary and fiscal policies in the U.S. and abroad including currency fluctuations, inflationary pressures and significant income tax changes; |
· | a global or regional economic slowdown in any of our market segments; |
· | changes in government policies and regulations affecting the Company or its significant customers; |
· | industrial policies in various countries that favor domestic industries over multinationals or that restrict foreign companies altogether; |
· | new or stricter trade policies and tariffs enacted by countries, such as China, in response to changes in U.S. trade policies and tariffs; |
· | postponement of spending, in response to tighter credit, financial market volatility and other factors; |
· | rapid material escalation of the cost of regulatory compliance and litigation; |
· | difficulties protecting intellectual property; |
· | longer payment cycles; |
· | credit risks and other challenges in collecting accounts receivable; and |
· | the impact of each of the foregoing on outsourcing and procurement arrangements. |
USB has had limited operations to date.
USB has had limited operations to date. USB is subject to many of the risks common to an entity in operations for only a short number of years, including its ability to implement its business plan, market acceptance of its proposed business and products, under-capitalization, cash shortages, limitations with respect to personnel, financing and other resources, competition from better funded and experienced companies, and uncertainty of its ability to generate revenues. There is no assurance that its activities will be successful or will result in any revenues or profit, and the likelihood of its success must be considered in light of the stage of its development. Even if it generates revenue, there can be no assurance that it will be profitable. In addition, no assurance can be given that it will be able to consummate its business strategy and plans, as described herein, or that financial, technological, market, or other limitations may force it to modify, alter, significantly delay, or significantly impede the implementation of such plans, including due to COVID-19.
We are currently in dispute with the executive management of USB and will enter into a process of mediation with them, if the outcome of the mediation process is not favorable, we may seek relief from the courts, this could impact on our decision to continue operations in this entity.
If we should lose our online or land-based licenses, or if the licenses are not renewed for any reason, including our failure to successfully bid for location rights at the renewal auction, our business would be materially adversely impacted, and it could result in the impairment of the carrying value of a substantial portion of our assets.
Our ability to generate revenue from gaming operations in Italy is dependent upon our ability to maintain our Italian online and land-based licenses. We currently hold three gaming licenses upon which our business is dependent: a Bersani license, a Monti license, and a GAD license. Each of the three licenses that we hold can be terminated by the regulator at any time if we fail to comply with their regulations. In addition, our GAD license that was issued to Multigioco in 2011 is expected to be up for renewal in 2024 and our Bersani and Monti land-based licenses that provides rights to seven corners and three agencies is currently up for renewal at such time as the ADM should determine (which is expected to occur between 2023 and 2024. Insofar as the renewal process for licenses is conducted through a call to tender auction process, there is no guarantee that we will be the highest bidder at auction and therefore there is no guarantee that our licenses or location will continue to operate. In addition, although our software is currently certified for use in Italy and in the U.S. for land-based application, any updates to the software or changes to key functions that we implement, require recertification, for which there can be no assurance that our software will qualify. We have also obtained our first U.S. based license from the Office of Lottery and Gaming in the District of Columbia. If we are unable to renew our licenses or obtain new licenses or software recertification, our business would be materially adversely impacted, and we may need to impair the carrying value of a substantial portion of our assets.
In order to expand our land-based operations in Italy, we will be required to acquire additional location rights under our licenses or acquire operators that have location rights under their licenses and our inability to acquire such additional rights or operators or restrictions from using any license associated with such acquired operators, will result in an adverse effect on our operating results.
Rights to online and land-based licenses are only available in Italy at limited times when licenses are being renewed. In addition, the maximum number of land-based location rights that any one operator may bid on at auction is 20% of the total market being auctioned. Due to such limitations on acquiring new location rights in Italy, our ability to expand the number of land-based locations that we operate will depend in large part upon our ability to acquire operators that hold land-based licenses and location rights. We expect a significant portion of our additional revenue to be derived from gaming revenue earned by operators that we have recently acquired or will acquire in the future. Although the operators which we have acquired and those that we acquire in the future may have active gaming licenses and location rights, we can provide no assurance that the existing license and location rights of any particular operator we have acquired or that we acquire in the future will be renewed or retained or that we will be able to acquire additional operators and increase our client base. If we are restricted from acquiring target operators or their client base, our operating results may will be adversely affected.
If we are unable to respond to changes in consumer preferences, attract new customers or sell new or additional products, our future revenue and business will be adversely affected.
Our retail leisure betting business, website and web-shops operate in an industry that is subject to:
· | rapid technological change; | |
· | the proliferation of new and changing online gaming sites; | |
· | frequent new product introductions and updates; and | |
· | changes in customer preferences and demands. |
If we fail to anticipate and effectively respond to any of the above changes, the demand for our products and services that we currently offer or that we may offer in the future may be reduced. Additionally, increasing incremental sales to our current customer base will require additional sales and marketing efforts, which may not be successful. Any failure to attract new customers or maintain and expand current customer relationships will have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Failure to anticipate and respond to changes in consumer preferences and demands could lead to, among other things, customer dissatisfaction and failure to attract and retain consumers of our products which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
If we fail to acquire, integrate and develop operators and new technologies on favorable economic terms, our future growth and operating results could be adversely affected.
We anticipate that the future growth and success of our business will be dependent upon our successful acquisition of operators and development of new technologies, such as our acquisition of Virtual Generation and US Bookmaking. We may in the future seek to acquire or invest in businesses, products or technologies that we believe could complement or expand our solutions, enhance our technical capabilities or otherwise offer growth opportunities. The pursuit of potential acquisitions may divert the attention of management and cause us to incur various expenses in identifying, investigating and pursuing suitable acquisitions, whether or not the acquisition purchases are completed. In addition, we have limited experience in acquiring other businesses. If we acquire additional businesses, we may not be able to successfully integrate the acquired personnel, operations and technologies, or effectively manage the combined business following the acquisition. We may not be able to find and identify desirable acquisition targets or be successful in entering into an agreement with any particular target. Acquisitions could also result in dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt, which could adversely affect our operating results. In addition, if an acquired business fails to meet our expectations, our operating results, business and financial condition may suffer. The difficulties and risks associated with the integration of the operations of new operators into our existing business, include:
· | the possibility that we will fail to implement our business plans for the integrated company, including as a result of new legislation or regulation in the gaming industry that affects the timing or costs associated with our operations or our acquisition plans; | |
· | possible inconsistencies between our standards, controls, procedures, policies and compensation structures and those of operators that we acquire; | |
· | the increased scope and complexity of our operations following the acquisition of multiple operators; | |
· | the potential loss of key employees and the costs associated with our efforts to retain key employees; | |
· | provisions in contracts that we and the acquired operators have with third parties that may limit our flexibility to take certain actions; | |
· | risks and limitations on our ability to consolidate the corporate and administrative infrastructures of new operators with our existing infrastructures; and | |
· | failure to discover liabilities of operators prior to our acquisitions of such operators; and the possibility of unanticipated delays, costs or inefficiencies associated with the integration of operations of new operators with our existing operations. |
As a result of these difficulties and risks, we may not be able to successfully grow our business.
If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining relationships with third parties, our business may be adversely impacted.
In order to grow our business, we anticipate that we will continue to depend on relationships with third parties, such as deployment partners, and technology and content providers. Identifying partners, and negotiating and documenting relationships with them, requires significant time and resources. Our competitors may be more effective in providing incentives to third parties to favor their products or services or to prevent or reduce the use of our services. In addition, acquisitions of our partners by our competitors could result in a decrease in the number of our current and potential customers, as our partners may no longer facilitate the adoption of our solutions by potential customers.
If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining our relationships with third parties, our ability to compete in the marketplace or to grow our revenues could be impaired and our operating results may suffer.
We cannot assure you that any acquisition we complete will result in short-term or long-term benefits to us.
Our business strategy includes expanding our products and services and we may seek acquisitions of synergistic companies to do so. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including substantial cash expenditures; potentially dilutive issuance of equity securities; the potential incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities, some of which may be difficult or impossible to identify at the time of acquisition; difficulties in assimilating the acquired technologies or the operations of the acquired companies; diverting our management’s attention away from other business concerns; risks of entering markets in which we have limited or no direct experience; and the potential loss of our key employees or key employees of the acquired companies.
We may misjudge the value or worth of an acquired product, company or business. In addition, our future success will depend in part on our ability to integrate and manage the associated acquisitions. We cannot assure you that we will be able to make the combination of our business with that of acquired products, businesses or companies work or be successful. Furthermore, the development or expansion of our business or any acquired products, business or companies may require a substantial capital investment by us. We may not have the necessary funds or they might not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. We may also seek to raise funds by selling shares of our preferred or common stock, which could dilute each current shareholder’s ownership interest in our company. Our operating results and financial condition will be adversely affected if we fail to implement our business strategy or if we invest resources in a strategy that ultimately proves unsuccessful.
We derive a significant portion of our revenue from gaming sales through our website and websites of our betting Platform clients. A decline in the popularity of our gaming websites or those of our Platform clients will negatively impact our business and risk our future growth.
We currently derive and expect to continue to derive substantially all of our primary source of revenue and service fees from the sales of gaming products and services sold through our website or websites operated by clients of our betting Platform. As such, the growth and market demand for our products and services are dependent upon, among other things, our ability to attract and retain new users and having existing users increase their activity on these websites. If we are unable to maintain or grow our revenue from sales through our website and our client’s websites, our future growth and revenues may be adversely affected.
Because our gaming operations are concentrated within Italy, we are subject to greater risks than a gaming company that is more geographically and internationally diversified.
Due to the fact that our gaming operations are concentrated within Italy, we are subject to greater risks than a gaming company that is more geographically and internationally diversified. As such, our business may be significantly affected by risks common to the Italian leisure betting market. For example, the changing government regulations on Italian gaming licenses or on the tolerance toward European licenses, as well as general economic conditions in Italy and the impact of any events that disrupt our ability to offer our products and services can adversely affect our business. We cannot control the government process that awards domestic gaming licenses to operators or the tolerance of allowing other European license holders to operate in Italy. Reductions in the number of licenses and frequency of issuing licenses by any government regulator can impact our ability to operate our business.
Our current expansion strategy, which includes expansion through Virtual Generation in the various countries in which it operates and in the United States through the use of our Platform certifications, may be difficult to implement because the licensing and certification requirements to operate in the United States are complex and other countries are currently indeterminable.
Our current expansion strategy includes soliciting existing licensed operators in the United States offering sports betting in states that allow sports betting to use our Platform. Furthermore, we have analyzed the technical specifications checklist supplied by GLI to verify that coding in our online product meets the functional specifications set forth in the GLI-33 standards (The Gaming Laboratories International technical standard for event wagering systems). In September 2020, we obtained GLI-33 certification on our land-based sports betting platform and commenced processing sports bets in the U.S. on a B2B basis in Washington D.C. in October 2021. We also began the process of licensing our platform in other States that allow sports betting. However, before being able to commence operations in any state we will be required to obtain licenses and other governmental approvals and there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so. Each state has its own approval process and approval in one state does not guarantee approval in any other state. We also intend to expand our operations through Virtual Generation in the various countries in which it operates; however, to date we have not had operations in most of those countries and there can be no assurance that our expansion in those countries will be successful.
We depend upon our officers and other key employees. Our inability to retain such officers and key employees or recruit additional qualified personnel may have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our future operations and successes depend in large part upon the continued service of our officers and other key employees. Changes in our management could have an adverse effect on our business. We are dependent upon the active participation of several key management personnel all of whom provide our strategic direction. Any failure to retain our key management could negatively affect our ability to recruit and retain personnel. We do not carry key person life insurance on any of our senior management or other key personnel. In addition, several members of our key management personnel are Canadian and Italian citizens. If they become unable or ineligible to legally travel to and work in the United States, their ability to perform some of their duties for our company could be materially adversely affected.
We must hire highly skilled technical personnel as employees and/or as independent contractors in order to develop our products. As of the date of this prospectus, we have 89 employees and 27 independent contractors. The competition for highly skilled technical, managerial and other personnel is intense and we may not be able to retain or recruit such personnel. Our recruiting and retention success is substantially dependent on our ability to offer competitive salaries and benefits to our employees. We must compete with companies that possess greater financial and other resources than we do and that may be more attractive to potential employees and contractors. To be competitive, we may have to increase the compensation, bonuses, stock options and other fringe benefits offered to employees in order to attract and retain such personnel. The costs of retaining or attracting new personnel may have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results. If we fail to attract and retain the technical and managerial personnel, we need to be successful, our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
If we are not able to maintain and enhance our brand, our business, operating results and financial condition may be adversely affected.
We believe that maintaining and enhancing our reputation for our advanced, cost effective sports betting and gaming technology software is critical to our relationships with our existing customers and operators and to our ability to attract new customers and operators. We also believe that the importance of brand recognition and software creativity will increase as competition in our market increases. We devote significant resources to developing and maintaining our brand and innovative betting technology leadership, with a focus on identifying and interpreting emerging trends in the market, shaping and guiding industry dialogue, and expanding the adoption of online sports betting and gaming software solutions. Our brand promotion activities may not ultimately be successful or yield increased revenue. In addition, independent industry analysts provide reviews of our platform, as well as products and services offered by our competitors, and perception of our betting platform in the marketplace may be significantly influenced by these reviews. If these reviews are negative, or less positive as compared to those of our competitors’ products and services, our brand and business may be adversely affected.
The promotion of our brand requires us to make substantial expenditures, and we anticipate that the expenditures will increase as our market becomes more competitive, as we expand into new markets and as more sales are generated. To the extent that these activities yield increased revenue, this revenue may not offset the increased expenses we incur. If we do not successfully maintain and enhance our brand, our business may not grow, we may have reduced pricing power relative to competitors, and we could lose customers and operators or fail to attract potential new customers and operators, all of which would adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We currently depend on and may continue to be dependent on third parties to provide certain components and products we distribute through our online gaming platform, and any increased costs associated with third party developers or any delay or interruption in production may negatively affect both our ability to provide access to the Platform and our ability to continue our operations.
We currently depend on third parties to provide some products through our Platform. The costs associated with relying on third parties may increase our operating and development costs and negatively affect our ability to operate because we cannot control the developer's personnel, schedule or resources. We may experience delays in finalizing Platform updates. In addition, our reliance upon third party developers exposes us to risks, including reduced control over quality assurance and costs of development. If any of the foregoing occurs, we could lose our current and prospective customers. In addition, we may be required to rely on certain technology that we license from third-parties, including software that we integrate and use with software that we may develop internally. We cannot provide any assurances that these third-party technology licenses will be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. The inability to establish any of these technology licenses, or the loss of such licenses if established, could result in delays in completing any Platform updates or changes until equivalent technology can be identified, licensed and integrated. Any such delays could materially adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
Specifically, our agreements with Microgame and SNAI to develop and operate some components of our gaming products and process certain land-based retail transactions is important to our operations. If we fail to comply with any of the terms or conditions of any such agreement, Microgame or SNAI may terminate our agreement or if such agreement expires and we are unable to find a suitable replacement, our business, operating results and financial condition would be materially adversely affected.
We depend on payments from third-party service providers, including government regulated gaming agencies. If we are unable to collect such payments or these payments decrease or do not increase as our costs increase, our financial condition and operating results may be adversely affected.
We depend, in part, on private entities and regulated third-party sources of payment for the gross gaming revenue earned by our operators. The amount our operators receive for their services may be adversely affected by market and cost factors as well as other factors over which we have no control, including future changes to the payment systems, the cost containment and utilization decisions of third-party service providers and the global economy. We have no assurance that future changes to betting odds from data providers for sporting events, table rake from poker providers and tax rates on game offerings, cost containment measures implemented by private third-party service providers, or other factors affecting payments for gaming services or our ability to collect such payments will not adversely affect our, financial condition and operating results.
If we have a security incident or breach involving unauthorized access to customer data, our Platform may be perceived as lacking sufficient security, customers may reduce their use of, or stop using our Platform and we may incur significant liabilities
Our Platform involves the storage and transmission of our customer’s confidential and proprietary information, which may include the personal data and information on their customers, players, suppliers and agents. As a result, unauthorized access or use of customer data could expose us to regulatory actions, litigation, investigations, remediation costs, damage to our reputation and brand, disclosure obligations, loss of customer and partner confidence in the security of our solutions and resulting fees, costs, expenses, loss of revenues, and other potential liabilities. While we have security measures in place designed to protect the integrity of customer information and prevent data loss, misappropriation, and other security breaches, if these measures are inadequate or are compromised as a result of third-party action, including intentional misconduct by computer hackers, theft, employee error, malfeasance or otherwise, our reputation could be damaged, our business may suffer, and we could incur significant liabilities. Cybersecurity challenges, including threats to our IT infrastructure or those of our customers or third-party providers, are often targeted at companies such as ours, and may take a variety of forms ranging from malware, phishing, ransomware, man-in-the-middle attacks, session hijacking, denial-of-service, password attacks, viruses, worms and other malicious software programs or cybersecurity attacks to “mega breaches” targeted against hosted software and cloud based IT services. A cybersecurity incident or breach could result in disclosure of confidential information and intellectual property, or cause production downtimes and compromised data. Because cybersecurity attacks and techniques change frequently, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures. Any or all of these issues could negatively affect our ability to attract new customers, cause existing customers to elect to terminate their business with us or switch their business to a competitor, result in reputational damage, cause us to pay remediation costs or issue service credits or refunds to customers for improper bets or false claims of improper bets, or result in lawsuits, regulatory fines or other action or liabilities, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Many states in the United States as well as foreign governments have enacted laws requiring companies to provide notice of data security breaches involving certain types of personal data, and significant fines on companies involved in such incidents may be imposed. In addition, some of our regulators and certifying agents contractually require notification of data security breaches. Security compromises experienced by us or by our competitors may lead to public disclosures, which may lead to widespread negative publicity. Any security compromise in our industry, whether actual or perceived, could harm our reputation, erode customer confidence in the effectiveness of our security measures, negatively impact our ability to attract new clients, cause existing clients to switch to a competing betting software provider, or subject us to third-party lawsuits, regulatory fines or other action or liability, which could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.
Privacy concerns and domestic or foreign privacy laws or regulations may result in significant costs and compliance challenges, reduce demand for our solutions, and adversely affect our business.
Our clients can use our Platform to collect, use and store certain personal data regarding their agents, employees, players/customers and suppliers. National and local governments, agencies, and authorities in the countries in which we and our clients operate have adopted or may adopt laws and regulations regarding the collection, use, storage, processing and disclosure of personal data obtained from consumers and individuals, which could impact our ability to offer our solutions in certain jurisdictions or our customers’ ability to deploy our solutions globally. Privacy-related laws are particularly stringent in Europe. If we or our third-party sub-processors fail to adequately comply with privacy-related laws, regulations and standards, it may limit the use and adoption of our solutions, reduce overall demand for our solutions, lead to significant fines, penalties or liabilities for noncompliance, or slow the pace at which we close sales transactions, any of which could harm our business. Moreover, if we or our third-party sub-processors fail to adhere to adequate data protection practices around the usage of our clients’ personal data, it may damage our reputation and brand.
In 2016 the EU adopted a new regulation governing data privacy called the General Data Protection Regulation, or the GDPR, which became effective on May 25, 2018. The GDPR establishes requirements applicable to the handling of personal data and imposes penalties for non-compliance of up to four percent of worldwide annual handle or 20 million euro, whichever is higher. Customers, particularly in the EU, are seeking assurances from their suppliers, including us, that their processing of personal data of EU nationals is in accordance with the GDPR, and if we are unable to provide adequate assurances to such customers, demand for our solutions and our business could be adversely affected. In addition, we must continue to seek assurances from our third-party sub processors that they are handling personal data in accordance with GDPR requirements in order to meet our own obligations under the GDPR. Compliance with privacy laws and regulations, particularly the GDPR, that are applicable to our business and the businesses of our clients is costly and time-consuming. Such laws and regulations may adversely affect our clients’ ability and willingness to process, handle, store, use and transmit personal data of their employees, players/customers and suppliers, which in turn could limit the use, effectiveness and adoption of our solutions and reduce overall demand. Even the perception of privacy concerns, whether or not valid, may inhibit the adoption, effectiveness or use of our betting Platform. Future laws, regulations, standards and other obligations, and changes in the interpretation of existing laws, including challenges to onward transfer mechanisms such as Privacy Shield and model contractual clauses, regulations, standards and other obligations could result in increased regulation, increased costs of compliance and penalties for non-compliance, as well as limitations on data collection, use, disclosure and transfer for us and our clients.
In addition, the other bases on which we and our clients rely for the transfer of data, such as certain contractual clauses, continue to be subjected to regulatory and judicial scrutiny. If we or our clients are unable to transfer data between and among countries and regions in which we operate, it could decrease demand for our betting software solutions, require us to restrict our business operations, and impair our ability to maintain and grow our client base, expand geographically and increase our revenues.
If we are unable to maintain successful relationships with retail agents, partners, our business, operating results, and financial condition could be adversely affected.
We have historically relied on retail agents, affiliates and partners, such as referral partners, resellers, and integration partners (collectively “partners”), to attract new clients and sell additional services to our existing clients and players. Our agreements with our partners are generally non-exclusive and some of our partners have entered, and may continue to enter, into strategic relationships with our competitors. Further, many of our partners have multiple strategic relationships, and they may not regard us as to be of significant importance for their businesses. Our partners may terminate their respective relationships with us with limited or no notice and with limited or no penalty, pursue other partnerships or relationships, or attempt to develop or acquire products or services that compete with our Platform. We may also terminate our relationships with partners who choose to work with our competitors or for other reasons. Moreover, we may have difficulty attracting effective partners to sell our Platform to other clients and players, particularly given our smaller size relative to larger franchise and well-established betting operators. If we are not able to maintain and grow our partner relationships, our business could be adversely affected.
Our partners also may impair our ability to enter into other desirable strategic relationships. If our partners do not effectively market and sell our betting products and Platform solution, if they choose to place greater emphasis on products of their own or those offered by our competitors, or if they fail to meet the needs of our clients and players, our ability to sell our Platform and our business may be adversely affected. Similarly, the loss of a substantial number of our partners, and our possible inability to replace them, the failure to recruit additional partners, any reduction or delay in their sales of our betting Platform, or any conflicts between partner sales and our direct sales and marketing activities could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
If we fail or are unable to protect our intellectual property effectively, we may be unable to prevent third parties from using our technologies, which would impair our competitive advantage, proprietary technology and our brand.
Our success is dependent, in part, upon protecting our proprietary technology which supports our betting Platform and other operations. We rely on a combination of proprietary programming and source codes, copyright, trademarks, service marks, trade secret laws and contractual provisions in an effort to establish and protect our proprietary rights. However, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property may be inadequate. We will not be able to protect our intellectual property if we are unable to enforce our rights or if we do not detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property. Any of our trademarks or other intellectual property rights may be challenged by others or invalidated through administrative process or litigation. We do not have any patent applications pending anywhere we operate and may not be able to obtain patent protection for the technology covered in any future patent applications should we enter such applications. In addition, any patents, if any, that are issued to us in the future may not provide us with competitive advantages or may be successfully challenged by third parties. Legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights are uncertain. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy our solutions and use information that we regard as proprietary to create products and services that compete with ours. Some license provisions protecting against unauthorized use, copying, transfer and disclosure of our technology may be unenforceable under the laws of jurisdictions outside the United States. In addition, the laws of some countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. To the extent we expand our international activities, our exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our solutions and proprietary information may increase.
Although we enter into confidentiality agreements with the parties with whom we have strategic relationships and business alliances, we do not currently enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with all of our employees and consultants and as a result, our business may be harmed. No assurance can be given that the agreements we enter into will be effective in controlling access to and distribution of our solutions and proprietary information. Further, these agreements do not prevent our competitors or partners from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our solutions.
In order to protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect these rights. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights and to protect our trade secrets. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time consuming and distracting to management and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Our inability to protect our proprietary technology against unauthorized copying or use, as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management’s attention and resources, could delay further sales or the implementation of our solutions, impair the functionality of our solutions, delay introductions of new solutions, result in our substituting inferior or more costly technologies into our solutions, or harm our business and reputation. In addition, we may be required to license additional technology from third parties to develop and market new solutions, and we cannot assure you that we would be able to license that technology on commercially reasonable terms or at all from them. Any inability to license third party technology in the future would have a material adverse effect on our business or operating results and would adversely affect our ability to compete.
We have experienced rapid growth and organizational change in recent periods and if we fail to manage our growth effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan.
We increased our number of full-time and part-time employees from 15 as of August 15, 2014 to 106 as of September 30, 2022 as we have expanded our operations, completed additional business acquisitions and experienced growth in number of customers and operators. Our growth has placed, and may continue to place, a significant strain on our managerial, administrative, operational, financial and other resources. We intend to further expand our headcount and operations both domestically and internationally, with no assurance that our business or revenue will continue to grow. Continuing to create a global organization and managing a geographically dispersed workforce will require substantial management effort, the allocation of valuable management resources and significant additional investment in our infrastructure. We will be required to continually improve our operational, financial and management controls and our reporting procedures and we may not be able to do so effectively, which could negatively affect our results of operations and overall business. In addition, we may be unable to manage our expenses effectively in the future, which may negatively impact our gross margins or operating expenses in any particular quarter. Moreover, if we fail to manage our anticipated growth and change in a manner that preserves the key aspects of our corporate culture, the quality of our software solutions may suffer, which could negatively affect our brand and reputation and harm our ability to retain and attract customers.
We may not be able to successfully scale our technology and manage the growth of our business if we are unable to improve our internal systems, processes and controls.
We need to continue to improve our internal systems, processes and controls to effectively manage our operations and growth. We may not be able to successfully implement and scale improvements to our systems and processes in a timely or efficient manner or in a manner that does not negatively affect our operating results. In addition, our systems and processes may not prevent or detect all errors, omissions or fraud. We have licensed technology from third parties to help us improve our internal systems, processes and controls. The support services available for such third-party technology may be negatively affected by mergers and consolidation in the software industry, and support services for such technology may not be available to us in the future. We may experience difficulties in managing improvements to our systems, processes and controls or in connection with third-party software, which could impair our ability to provide our solutions or professional services to our customers in a timely manner, causing us to lose customers, limit us to smaller deployments of our solutions or increase our technical support costs.
Our estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth included in this prospectus may prove to be inaccurate, and even if the market in which we compete achieves the forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.
Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts, are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate. Not all geographic or regional metrics covered by our market opportunity estimates will necessarily implement regulated or online gaming at all, and in some cases many potential customers and operators may choose to continue using their existing betting platform provider, or choose a solution offered by our competitors. It is impossible to build every product feature that every customer wants, and our competitors may develop and offer features that our solutions do not offer. The variables that go into the calculation of our market opportunity are subject to change over time, and there is no guarantee that any particular number or percentage of customers covered by our market opportunity estimates will purchase our solutions at all or generate any particular level of revenues for us. Even if the market in which we compete meets the size estimates and growth forecasted in this prospectus, our business could fail to grow for a variety of reasons outside of our control, including competition in our industry. Furthermore, we have historically focused our selling and marketing efforts in regulated markets in Europe, specifically Italy. In order for us to successfully address the broader market opportunity, we will need to successfully market and sell our betting Platform to larger enterprise customers and also further expand our international presence. If any of these risks materialize, it could adversely affect our results of operations.
Our research and development efforts are costly and subject to international risks and may not contribute significantly to revenues for several years, if at all.
In order to remain competitive, we must continue to invest in research and development. During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we spent approximately $2.0 million and $1.7 million for research and development, respectively, this R&D is mainly compromised of salary and wages at Odissea our platform supply company and a third party vendor, Engage IT. This company is creating a custom-made platform for us which will make us industry leaders in the market. We have made and expect to continue to make significant investments in development and related opportunities, such as our acquisition of US Bookmaking, and these investments could adversely affect our operating results if not offset by increases in revenues. However, we may not receive significant revenue from these investments for several years, if at all.
Further, our competitors may expend a greater amount of funds on their research and development programs. Our failure to maintain adequate research and development resources or to compete effectively with the research and development programs of our competitors could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
If we fail to manage our technical operations infrastructure, our customers may experience service outages and delays, which may adversely affect our business.
We derive significant revenue from the use of our websites and Platform. In the past, we have experienced significant growth in the number of users, transactions and data that our operations infrastructure supports. We seek to maintain sufficient excess capacity in our operations infrastructure to meet the needs of all of our customers. We also seek to maintain excess capacity to facilitate the rapid provision of new customer deployments and the expansion of existing customer deployments. In addition, we need to properly manage our technological operations infrastructure in order to support version control, changes in hardware and software parameters and the evolution of our Platform. As we transition to larger infrastructure and pursue geographic expansion, we may experience interruptions, delays and outages in service and availability, and we may experience a decline in our gross gaming margin in the near term reflecting the costs of this transition.
We have experienced, and may in the future experience, website disruptions, outages and other performance problems. These problems may be caused by a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, vendor issues, human or software errors, viruses, security attacks, fraud, general Internet availability issues, spikes in customer usage and denial of service issues. In some instances, we may not be able to identify the cause or causes of these performance problems within an acceptable period of time. If we do not accurately predict our infrastructure requirements, our existing customers may experience service outages that may subject us to financial penalties, financial liabilities and customer losses. If our operations infrastructure fails to keep pace with increased sales, customers may experience delays as we seek to obtain additional capacity, which could adversely affect our reputation, business and results of operations.
We may not have exclusive control over the distribution of cash from any operators that we may acquire in the future and may be unable to cause all or a portion of the cash of such operators to be distributed to us.
We anticipate having a complete or a majority ownership in the operators we may acquire in the future. We expect any future agreements we execute with such operators will provide for the distribution of available cash to us. However, it is possible that these agreements may impose limits on the ability of our acquired operators to make distributions of cash to us. If we are unable to cause sufficient cash to be distributed from one or more of the operators we may acquire in the future, our ability to pay our obligations as they become due may be harmed.
If we acquire an operator that has made submission and reporting errors prior to our acquisition, we may be liable for such errors that may have a material adverse effect on our business.
Historical submissions and reporting errors in gaming accounts made by an operator we may acquire in the future, may require us to provide refunds to customers and may also subject us to civil penalties, which involve monetary damages. If operators we may acquire in the future overpaid their obligation, it is unlikely that we would be able to collect funds that were owed to the operator prior to our acquisition. There can be no assurance that a compliance audit will disclose any future liabilities for underpayments or overpayments that any of our operators may have incurred.
If any executive officers or key personnel of operators we may acquire are unable to assist with the transition of operations and customers, our business may be adversely affected.
In connection with any potential acquisition of operators, we believe that it is necessary and desirable to retain the services of executive officers and key personnel of such operators to assist with the transition and integration of operations and customers into our existing operations; however, no assurances can be given that such executive officers and key personnel will be willing and able to assist us with such transition and integration. In the event that such executive officers and key personnel are unable to assist us after the consummation of the future acquisition of an operator, we may need to hire additional personnel to assist with the transaction, which new personnel may not be readily available to us or on acceptable terms.
Any violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or any other similar anti-corruption laws could have a negative impact on us.
The majority of our revenue is derived from operations outside the United States, which exposes us to complex foreign and U.S. regulations inherent in doing cross-border business and in each of the countries in which we transact business. We are subject to compliance with the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and other similar anti-corruption laws, which generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. While our employees and agents are required to comply with these laws, we cannot be sure that our internal policies and procedures will always protect us from violations of these laws, despite our commitment to legal compliance and corporate ethics. Violations of these laws may result in severe criminal and civil sanctions as well as other penalties, and the SEC and U.S. Department of Justice have increased their enforcement activities with respect to the FCPA. Violations or allegations of non-compliance with any such laws or regulations may adversely affect our business, performance, prospects, value, financial condition, and results of operations.
War, terrorism, other acts of violence or natural or manmade disasters may affect the markets in which we operates, our customers, our delivery of software and customer service, and could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
Our business may be adversely affected by instability, disruption or destruction in a geographic region in which we operate, regardless of cause, including war, terrorism, riot, civil insurrection or social unrest, and natural or manmade disasters, including famine, flood, fire, earthquake, storm or pandemic events and spread of disease. Such events may cause customers to suspend their decisions on using our products and services, make it impossible for our customers to visit our physical locations, cause restrictions, postponements and cancellations of sports events that attract large crowds and public gatherings, and give rise to sudden significant changes in regional and global economic conditions and cycles. These events also pose significant risks to our personnel and to physical facilities and operations, which could materially adversely affect our financial results.
Risks Related to Our Industry
Economic conditions, particularly in Italy and Europe, that have an adverse effect on the gaming industry may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Our business operations are currently concentrated in a single industry and largely in one geographic area (Italy) that is affected by international, national and local economic conditions. A downturn in the overall economy or economy in a specific region such as Italy or a reduction in demand for gaming in such area, may have an adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. We cannot predict the effect or duration of an economic slowdown in Italy or in the gaming industry, or the impact such slowdown may have on the demand for our leisure gaming products and services. If economic conditions deteriorate our consumers will have less disposable income to spend on wagers and our business may be adversely affected.
Intense competition in the leisure gaming industry may adversely affect our revenue and profitability.
We operate in a highly competitive environment and we compete for operators, customers and advertisers with numerous well-established leisure gaming operators, as well as numerous smaller and newer gaming website operators. Many of our principal competitors have substantially longer operating histories, greater financial, technical, marketing or other resources, stronger brand and customer recognition, larger intellectual property portfolios and broader global distribution and presence than we have. Our competitors may be able to offer products or functionality similar to ours at a more attractive price than we can by integrating or bundling such products with their other product offerings or may develop new technologies or services that are more attractive to other operators or our customers. Acquisitions and consolidation in our industry may provide our competitors with even more resources or may increase the likelihood of our competitors offering bundled or integrated products with which we cannot effectively compete. New innovative start-ups and existing large companies that are making significant investments in research and development could also launch new products and services that are competitive with ours and that could gain market acceptance quickly. In addition, we face potential competition from participants in adjacent markets that may enter our markets by leveraging related technologies and partnering with or acquiring other companies or providing alternative approaches to provide similar results. We also face competition for employees with the necessary technical skills.
With the introduction of new technologies, the evolution of our Platform and new market entrants, we expect competition to intensify in the future. Increased competition generally could result in reduced sales, reduced margins, losses or the failure of our Platform to achieve or maintain more widespread market acceptance, any of which could harm our business.
We expect that competition from internet gaming will continue to grow and intensify in the United States.
We intend to expand the use of our Platform in the United States; however, that will be dependent upon changes in legislation and our ability to obtain licenses and other regulatory approvals and we expect that we will face increased competition from other leisure betting operators as the potential for legalized internet gaming continues to grow. Several states in the United States are currently considering legislation that would legalize internet gaming at the state level. As a result of the Justice Department’s (“DOJ”) December 2011 opinion concerning the applicability of the Wire Act to internet gaming, certain states including Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey have enacted legislation to authorize various forms of intrastate internet gaming. In addition, the recently revised DOJ opinion on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (“UIGEA”) and competition from internet lotteries and other internet wagering gaming services, which allow their customers to wager on a wide variety of sporting events and play Las Vegas-style casino games from home, could divert customers from our products and thus adversely affect our business. Such internet wagering services are likely to expand in future years and become more accessible to domestic customers as a result of initiatives in some states to consider legislation to legalize intrastate internet wagering. There have also been proposals that would specifically legalize internet gaming under federal law. If we are unable to execute our U.S. strategy, anticipate, react to or penetrate the U.S. market in a timely manner, our competitive position could weaken, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we could suffer penalties or be required to make significant changes to our operations. In addition, changes in laws and regulations with respect to the gaming industry, and the application or interpretation of existing laws and regulations applicable to our operations may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business is highly regulated, and we are subject to many laws and regulations at the federal, provincial and local government levels in the jurisdictions in which we operate. These laws and regulations require that our operators and our operations meet various licensing, certification and other requirements, including those relating to:
· | ownership of our operators; | |
· | our and our operators’ relationships with sponsors and other referral sources; | |
· | approvals and other regulations affecting the acquisition of operators, capital expenditures or the addition of services; | |
· | qualifications of management and support personnel; | |
· | maintenance and protection of records; | |
· | billing for services by gaming product providers, including appropriate treatment of overpayments and credit balances; | |
· | privacy and security of individually identifiable personal information; | |
· | online gaming and gaming in general; | |
· | commercial advertising; | |
· | subscription rates; and | |
· | foreign investments. |
Furthermore, the rules and regulations governing the gaming industry are evolving and subject to interpretation in the territories in which we operate and the territories in which we may operate in the future. Promulgation of new laws, changes in current laws, and changes in interpretations by courts and other government agencies of existing laws, may require us to modify or cease our operations. Compliance with changes in such laws and regulations may increase our operating expenses. In addition, our failure to comply with current or future laws and regulations may expose us to significant liabilities. Our inability or failure to comply with laws and regulations that govern the gaming industry in the territories in which we operate may result in the loss of our licenses which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions and results of operations.
Regulators at the federal and provincial level in Italy are monitoring and restricting the issuance and renewal of gaming licenses which could have an adverse effect on our growth.
Federal regulators in Italy are enforcing new restrictions to reduce the number of independent operators in the gaming industry, and a moratorium on new licenses for gaming operators in Italy has been implemented. The success of our business depends upon our ability to acquire operators in new regional locations throughout Italy. The restrictions on the licensing of new operators may make it more difficult for us to locate operators that we may be able to acquire. Our inability to acquire operators and expand our operations into new regional locations throughout Italy may have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
We might be required to acquire additional location rights under our licenses or acquire operators that have existing location rights under their licenses in order to remain in compliance with laws that are required to operate in Italy. Our inability to acquire such additional location rights or operators could result in an adverse effect on our operating results.
Rights to land-based licenses and online licenses are only distributed during infrequent license renewal auctions held by the ADM. Since June 30, 2016, the last renewal date that passed, the ADM has postponed the renewal auction and imposed a moratorium on the issuance of new sports betting licenses and the standardization of regulations in Italy. The outcome of ongoing proceedings in the European Court of Justice regarding the application of Italian regulations for wagering under the Intra-EU model remains pending. In the Interim, the ADM is delaying the Italian license renewal process. As such, the ADM has temporarily instituted operating authorizations for pre-2016 concessions that allow operators, including Multigioco to continue to operate until the next license renewal is announced and concluded. The outcome and duration of this process is presently unknown. No assurance can be provided that our gaming website and locations of any particular operator we have acquired or that we may acquire in the future will be permitted to operate or that we will be able to acquire additional operators and increase our client base.
Our records and submissions to regulatory agencies may contain inaccurate or unsupportable submissions which may result in an under or overstatement of our revenues and subject us to various penalties and may adversely affect our operations.
A major component of the regulatory environment is the interpretation of winnings and tax calculation procedures established by the US and Italian gaming regulators. Inaccurate or unsupportable submissions, inaccurate records for gaming coin-in or handle (turnover), client data and erroneous winning claims could result in inaccurate revenues being reported. Such errors are subject to correction or retroactive adjustment in later periods and may be reflected in financial statements for periods subsequent to the period in which the revenue was recorded. We may also be required to refund a portion of the revenue that we have received which, depending on its magnitude, may damage our reputation and relationship with regulatory agencies and may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or cash flows.
The ADM in Italy conducts weekly account audits and sweeps for taxes in addition to random onsite inspections for online connection to the ADM network as well as searches for nefarious programming or routers which can alter the reporting requirements of the ADM. It is possible that our acquired Austrian operator, that did not hold a domestic Italian license and was operating under inter-European business principles, could receive letters from ADM auditors requesting the payment of fines for alleged violations and errors. As such, we will incur expenses associated with responding to and appealing such requests, as well as the costs of paying any shortfalls in addition to the possible fines and penalties. Demands for payments can also occur even if an operator is acquired by means of an asset transfer. Our inability to dispute demands or pay requests for underpayments may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We may become the subject of Italian federal and provincial investigations in the future and our business may be adversely affected.
Both Italian federal and provincial government agencies have heightened and coordinated civil and criminal enforcement efforts as part of numerous ongoing investigations of gaming companies, as well as their executives and managers. These investigations relate to, among other things diversion practices if an agent or store owner were to disconnect (i.e., remove ethernet plug from internet) the betting terminal or PC from the ADM network.
In addition, we may employ executives and managers, some of whom may have worked at other gaming companies that are or may become the subject of ADM investigations and private litigation. Such executives and managers may be included in governmental investigations or named as defendants in private litigation. A governmental investigation of us, our executives or our managers could divert our management’s attention, result in significant expenses, as well as negative publicity and adversely affect our business.
Our current operations are international in scope and we are planning further geographic expansion, creating a variety of potential operational challenges.
We currently have an office location in Canada, business operations and office location in the United States and business operations and offices in Europe and intend to open additional offices in other countries. If we expand in the future, our offices, personnel and operations may be further dispersed around the world. In connection with such expansion, we may face a number of challenges, including costs associated with developing software and providing support in additional languages, varying seasonality patterns, potential adverse movement of currency exchange rates, longer payment cycles and difficulties in collecting accounts receivable in some countries, tariffs and trade barriers, a variety of regulatory or contractual limitations on our ability to operate, adverse tax events, reduced protection of intellectual property rights in some countries and a geographically and culturally diverse workforce and customer base. Failure to overcome any of these challenges could negatively affect our business and results of operations.
We face exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations that have recently harmed our results of operations and could in the future harm our results of operations.
We conduct transactions, including intercompany transactions, in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. As we grow our international operations, we expect the amount of our revenues denominated in foreign currencies to increase. Accordingly, changes in the value of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar could affect our reported revenues and operating results due to transactional and translational re-measurements that are reflected in our results of operations. As a result of such foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, it could be more difficult to detect underlying trends in our business and results of operations. In addition, to the extent that fluctuations in currency exchange rates cause our results of operations to differ from our expectations or the expectations of our investors, the trading price of our common stock could be adversely affected.
We do not currently maintain a program to hedge transactional exposures in foreign currencies. However, in the future, we may use derivative instruments, such as foreign currency forward and option contracts, to hedge exposures to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. The use of such hedging activities may not offset any or more than a portion of the adverse financial effects of unfavorable movements in foreign exchange rates over the limited time the hedges are in place. Moreover, the use of hedging instruments may introduce additional risks if we are unable to structure effective hedges with such instruments.
Risks Related to Ownership of our Securities
We may not be able to meet the continued listing requirements for the Nasdaq Stock Market. If our common stock is delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market, our stock price could be adversely affected and the liquidity of our stock and our ability to obtain financing could be impaired.
Our common stock is currently listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. If we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market, such as the corporate governance requirements, minimum bid price requirement or the minimum stockholder’s equity requirement, The Nasdaq Capital Market may take steps to de-list our common stock. On July 25, 2022, we received a Nasdaq Staff Determination letter notifying us that for the preceding 30 consecutive business days we were not in compliance with the requirement that our common stock maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share.
We have until January 23, 2023 to comply with the $1.00 per share minimum bid price requirement. To remain listed, our common stock must have a closing bid price of at least $1.00 per share for ten consecutive business days prior to January 23, 2023. We intend to actively monitor the bid price of our common stock and will consider available options to regain compliance with the Nasdaq listing requirements.
If we do not achieve compliance with the $1.00 per share minimum bid price requirement, the Nasdaq Staff would be required to issue us a delisting notice. We would have the opportunity to appeal a delisting notice to a Nasdaq Hearings Panel, which would delay any delisting until at least the date of the hearing. The Nasdaq Hearings Panel has discretion to grant an exception for up to 180 days after the initial delisting determination but it is not required to do so and may order a lesser exception period or order an immediate delisting. We may also fail to satisfy other Nasdaq continued listing requirements in the future.
Any delisting of our common stock by Nasdaq could adversely affect our ability to attract new investors, impair stockholders’ ability to sell or purchase their common stock when they wish to do so, decrease the liquidity of the outstanding shares of common stock, reduce the price at which such shares trade and increase the transaction costs inherent in trading such shares with overall negative effects for our shareholders. In addition, delisting of the common stock could deter broker-dealers from making a market in or otherwise seeking or generating interest in our common stock, and might deter certain institutions and persons from investing in our stock at all.
No assurance can be given that we will be able to satisfy our continued listing requirements and maintain the listing of our common stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market.
Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A)(iii) (the “$0.10 Rule”), our common stock may be subject to immediate delisting from Nasdaq if our common stock has a closing bid price of $0.10 or less for any ten (10) consecutive trading days. In the event that we are in violation of the $0.10 Rule, Nasdaq will issue a Staff Delisting Determination with the potential opportunity for us to appeal that determination.
There can be no assurances that we will be able to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement nor can there be assurances that we will maintain compliance with the $0.10 Rule, particularly if the price of our common stock declines as a result of this offering. If we are unable to regain or maintain compliance with these Nasdaq requirements, our common stock will be delisted from Nasdaq.
Our stock price has fluctuated in the past, has recently been volatile and may be volatile in the future, and as a result, investors in our common stock could incur substantial losses.
Our stock price has fluctuated in the past, has recently been volatile and may be volatile in the future. Our closing share price on January 4, 2021 was $5.38 with a high closing price of $7.21 and a closing share price on December 31, 2021 of $2.72 and a closing share price on November 11, 2022 of $0.29. These fluctuations do not appear to be based on any business fundamentals. We may incur rapid and substantial decreases in our stock price in the foreseeable future that are unrelated to our operating performance or prospects. In addition, the recent outbreak of war in the Ukraine has caused broad stock market and industry fluctuations. The stock market generally and the market for gaming companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. As a result of this volatility, investors may experience losses on their investment in our common stock. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including the following:
· | sale of our common stock by our stockholders, executives, and directors; | |
· | volatility and limitations in trading volumes of our securities; | |
· | our ability to obtain financings to implement our business plans, including the acquisitions of operators; | |
· | the timing and success of introductions of new products by us or our competitors or any other change in the competitive dynamics of our industry, including consolidation among competitors; | |
· | our ability to attract new customers; | |
· | the continued impact of COVID-19; | |
· | changes in our capital structure or dividend policy, future issuances of securities and sales of large blocks of securities by our stockholders; | |
· | our cash position; | |
· | announcements and events surrounding financing efforts, including debt and equity securities; | |
· | our inability to enter into new markets or develop new products; | |
· | reputational issues; | |
· | our inability to successfully manage our business or achieve profitability; | |
· | announcements of acquisitions, partnerships, collaborations, joint ventures, new products, capital commitments, or other events by us or our competitors; | |
· | changes in general economic, political and market conditions in any of the regions in which we conduct our business; | |
· | changes in industry conditions or perceptions; | |
· | analyst research reports, recommendation and changes in recommendations, price targets, and withdrawals of coverage; | |
· | departures and additions of key personnel; | |
· | disputes and litigation related to intellectual properties, proprietary rights, and contractual obligations; | |
· | changes in applicable laws, rules, regulations, or accounting practices and other dynamics; | |
· | market conditions or trends in the gaming industry; and | |
· | other events or factors, many of which may be out of our control. |
These broad market and industry factors may seriously harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. Since the stock price of our common stock has fluctuated in the past, has been recently volatile and may be volatile in the future, investors in our common stock could incur substantial losses. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market, securities class-action litigation has often been instituted against companies. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. There can be no guarantee that our stock price will remain at current prices or that future sales of our common stock will not be at prices lower than those sold to investors.
Additionally, recently, securities of certain companies have experienced significant and extreme volatility in stock price due to short sellers need to purchase shares of common stock, known as a “short squeeze.” These short squeezes have caused extreme volatility in the common stock price of those companies and in the market and have led to the price per share of common stock of those companies trading at a significantly inflated price that is disconnected from the underlying value of the company. Many investors who have purchased shares of common stock in those companies at an inflated price face the risk of losing a significant portion of their original investment as the price per share has declined steadily as interest in those stocks has abated. While we have no reason to believe our shares of common stock would be the target of a short squeeze, there can be no assurance that we will not be in the future, and you may lose a significant portion or all of your investment if you purchase our shares of common stock at a rate that is significantly disconnected from our underlying value.
Future sales of shares of our common stock or the perception in the public markets that these sales may occur, may depress our stock price.
The market price of our common stock could decline significantly as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock in the market. In addition, if our significant stockholders sell a large number of shares, or if our warrant holders exercise their warrants and sell the underlying shares or if we issue a large number of shares, the market price of our common stock could decline. Any issuance of additional common stock, or common stock equivalents by us would result in dilution to our existing shareholders. Such issuances could be made at a price that reflects a discount to the then-current trading price of our common stock. Moreover, the perception in the public market that stockholders may sell shares of our stock or that we may issue additional shares of common stock could depress the market for our shares. and make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities at any time in the future if at all.
We may issue additional shares of common stock and preferred stock without stockholder approval, which would dilute the current holders of our common stock. In addition, the exercise or conversion of currently outstanding securities would further dilute holders of our common stock.
Our Board of Directors has authority, without action or vote of our shareholders, to issue shares of common and preferred stock. We may issue shares of our common stock or preferred stock to complete a business combination or to raise capital. Such stock issuances could be made at a price that reflects a discount from the then-current trading price of our common stock. These issuances would dilute our stockholders’ ownership interest, which among other things would have the effect of reducing their influence on matters on which our stockholders vote. In addition, our stockholders and prospective investors may incur additional dilution if holders of stock options and warrants, whether currently outstanding or subsequently granted, exercise their options or warrants to purchase shares of our common stock or if our convertible debt holders convert their debt.
The rights of the holders of our common stock may be impaired by the potential issuance of preferred stock.
Our certificate of incorporation gives our Board of Directors the right to create one or more new series of preferred stock. As a result, the Board may, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting, dividend, conversion, liquidation or other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and equity interests of the holders of our common stock, preferred stock, which could be issued with the right to more than one vote per share, would dilute the rights of our common stockholders and could be used to discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company, which could materially adversely affect the price of our common stock.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports, or publish unfavorable research or reports about our business, our stock price and trading volume may decline.
The trading market for our common stock will rely in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us, our business, our markets and our competitors. We currently have limited analyst coverage. If securities analysts do not cover our common stock, the lack of research coverage may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Furthermore, if we should have analyst coverage and one or more of the analysts who do cover us downgrade our stock or if those analysts issue other unfavorable commentary about us or our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fails to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the market and interest in our stock could decrease, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline and may also impair our ability to expand our business with existing customers and attract new customers.
Because certain of our stockholders control a significant number of shares of our common stock, they may have effective control over actions requiring stockholder approval.
Gilda Pia Ciavarella, the spouse of our Executive Chairman of the Board is the beneficial owner of 4,728,478 shares of our common stock and therefore our Executive Chairman is deemed to beneficially own approximately 19.9% of our outstanding shares common stock on a fully diluted basis as of the date of the filing of this prospectus. As a result, Ms. Ciavarella, has the ability to effectively control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets and the ability to control the management and affairs of our company. In addition, other members of our senior management team beneficially own 2.8% of our outstanding shares of common stock on a fully diluted basis as of the date of the filing of this prospectus. Accordingly, this concentration of ownership might harm the market price of our common stock by:
· | delaying, deferring or preventing a change in corporate control; | |
· | impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us; or | |
· | discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us. |
Delaware law and our corporate charter and bylaws contain anti-takeover provisions that could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of our company. For example, our Board of Directors has the authority to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the powers, preferences and rights of each series without stockholder approval. The ability to issue preferred stock could discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or make it more difficult for a third party to gain control of our company, or otherwise could materially adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Furthermore, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. This provision may prohibit or restrict large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, from merging or combining with us, which could discourage potential takeover attempts, reduce the price that investors may be willing to pay for shares of our common stock in the future and result in our market price being lower than it would be without these provisions.
Our certificate of incorporation has an exclusive forum for adjudication of disputes provision which limits the forum to the Delaware Court of Chancery for certain actions against the Company.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that the Delaware Court of Chancery, to the fullest extent permitted by law, is the sole and exclusive forum for certain actions including claims in the right of our company brought by a stockholder that are based upon a violation of a duty by a current or former director or officer or stockholder in such capacity or as to which the Delaware corporate law confers jurisdiction upon the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware.
A Delaware corporation is allowed to mandate in its corporate governance documents a chosen forum for the resolution of state law-based shareholder class actions, derivative suits and other intra-corporate disputes. Our management believes limiting state law-based claims to Delaware mitigate against the potential risk of another forum misapplying Delaware law is avoided. In addition, Delaware courts have a well-developed body of case law and we believe limiting the forum for the adjudication of any disputes will prevent costly and duplicative litigation and avoid the risk of inconsistent outcomes. Our Bylaws limit any shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a forum it believes is favorable to shareholders in disputes with directors, officers or other employees.
The exclusive forum provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or other federal securities laws for which there is exclusive federal or concurrent federal and state jurisdiction. To the extent that any such claims may be based upon federal law claims, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Although our certificate contains the choice of forum provision described above, it is possible that a court could rule that such a provision is inapplicable for a particular claim or action or that such provision is unenforceable. Investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
This provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with the Company or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders, which may discourage such lawsuits against the Company and our directors, officers, employees or stockholders. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our shares of common stock so any returns will be limited to the value of our shares.
We currently anticipate that we will retain any future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
An active trading market for our common stock may not be maintained, or we may fail to satisfy applicable Nasdaq Capital Market listing requirements.
Our common stock is currently traded on Nasdaq Capital Market, but we can provide no assurance that we will be able to maintain an active trading market for our shares on Nasdaq Capital Market or any other exchange in the future. The fact that a significant portion of our outstanding shares of common stock is closely held by a few individuals, results in it being more difficult for us to maintain an active trading market. If there is no active market for our common stock, it may be difficult for our stockholders to sell shares without depressing the market price for the shares or at all, our stock price could decline, and we may be unable to maintain compliance with applicable Nasdaq Capital Market listing requirements.
The warrants that we issued in our prior offerings are speculative in nature and have certain provisions that could deter an acquisition of our company.
The warrants that we issued in our prior offerings do not confer any rights of common stock ownership on their holders, such as voting rights or the right to receive dividends, but rather merely represent the right to acquire shares of common stock at a fixed price, subject to certain adjustments. Moreover, the market value of such warrants is uncertain and there can be no assurance that the market value of the warrants will equal or exceed their exercise price. Furthermore, the warrants issued in our 2020 public offering will expire five years from the original issuance date. In the event our common stock price does not exceed the exercise price of such warrants during the period when such warrants are exercisable, such warrants may not have any value.
In addition to the provisions of our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws, certain provisions of the warrants we have issued in our 2020 public offering and our 2020 registered direct offering could make it more difficult or expensive for a third party to acquire us. The warrants issued in our 2020 public offering and our 2020 registered direct offering prohibit us from engaging in certain transactions constituting “fundamental transactions” unless, among other things, the surviving entity assumes our obligations under such warrants. These and other provisions of the warrants could prevent or deter a third party from acquiring us even where the acquisition could be beneficial to you.
Risks Related to this Offering
This is a best efforts offering, no minimum amount of securities is required to be sold, and we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our business plans.
The placement agent has agreed to use its reasonable best efforts to solicit offers to purchase the securities being offered in this offering. The placement agent has no obligation to buy any of the securities from us or to arrange for the purchase or sale of any specific number or dollar amount of the securities. There is no required minimum number of securities or amount of proceeds that must be sold as a condition to completion of this offering. Because there is no minimum offering amount required as a condition to the closing of this offering, the actual offering amount, placement agent fees and proceeds to us are not presently determinable and may be substantially less than the maximum amounts set forth above. We may sell fewer than all of the securities offered hereby, which may significantly reduce the amount of proceeds received by us, and investors in this offering will not receive a refund in the event that we do not sell an amount of securities sufficient to fund for our operations as described in the “Use of Proceeds” section herein. Thus, we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our operations in the short-term and may need to raise additional funds, which may not be available or available on terms acceptable to us.
You will be unable to exercise the Series B warrants and they may have no value under certain circumstances.
We will not have authorized shares available to permit exercise of the Series B warrants and such warrants will not be exercisable if we do not obtain stockholder approval to either increase the number of authorized shares of common stock or effect a reverse stock split, in either case in an amount sufficient to permit exercise in full of the Series B warrants. If we are unable to obtain such approval, the Series B warrants will have no value. In no event may the Series B warrants be net cash settled.
Management will have broad discretion with respect to the use of the proceeds from this offering.
Our management will have broad discretion as to the application of the net proceeds from this offering and could use them for purposes other than those contemplated at the time of the offering. Our stockholders may not agree with the manner in which our management chooses to allocate and spend the net proceeds. It is possible that our management may use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes that may not improve our financial condition or market value.
There is no public market for the units, pre-funded units, common warrants or pre-funded warrants.
There is no established public trading market for the units, pre-funded units, common warrants or pre-funded warrants offered hereby, and we do not expect a market to develop. In addition, we do not intend to apply to list the units, pre-funded units, common warrants or pre-funded warrants on any national securities exchange or other nationally recognized trading system, including the Nasdaq Capital Market. Without an active market, the liquidity of those securities will be limited.
The warrants in this offering are speculative in nature.
Following this offering, the market value of the common warrants, if any, is uncertain and there can be no assurance that the market value of the common warrants will equal or exceed their imputed public offering price. In the event that our common stock price does not exceed the exercise price of the common warrants during the period when such common warrants are exercisable, such warrants may not have any value. Furthermore, each common warrant will expire five years from its initial exercise date.
Holders of the common warrants and pre-funded warrants will not have rights of holders of our shares of common stock until such common warrants and pre-funded warrants are exercised.
The common warrants and pre-funded warrants in this offering do not confer any rights of share ownership on their holders, but rather merely represent the right to acquire shares of our common stock at a fixed price. Until holders of common warrants and pre-funded warrants acquire shares of our common stock upon exercise of the common warrants and pre-funded warrants, as applicable, holders of common warrants and pre-funded warrants will have no rights with respect to our shares of common stock underlying such common warrants and pre-funded warrants
We may not receive any additional funds upon the exercise of the common warrants or pre-funded warrants.
The common warrants and pre-funded warrants provide that if we do not maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the common warrants and pre-funded warrants, they may be exercised by way of a cashless exercise, meaning that the holder may not pay a cash purchase price upon exercise, but instead would receive upon such exercise the net number of shares of our common stock determined according to the formula set forth in the common warrants and pre-funded warrants. Accordingly, we may not receive any additional funds upon the exercise of the common warrants or pre-funded warrants.
Provisions of the common warrants could result in a cash payment in the event of a fundamental transaction.
Certain provisions of the common warrants issued by us could make it more difficult or expensive for a third party to acquire us. The common warrants prohibit us from engaging in certain transactions constituting “fundamental transactions” unless, among other things, the surviving entity assumes our obligations under the warrants. Further, the common warrants provide that, in the event of certain transactions constituting “fundamental transactions,” with some exception, holders of such common warrants will have the right, at their option, to require us to repurchase such common warrants at a designated price.
This is a best efforts offering, no minimum amount of securities is required to be sold, and we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our business plans.
The placement agent has agreed to use its reasonable best efforts to solicit offers to purchase the securities being offered in this offering. The placement agent has no obligation to buy any of the securities from us or to arrange for the purchase or sale of any specific number or dollar amount of the securities. There is no required minimum number of securities or amount of proceeds that must be sold as a condition to completion of this offering. Because there is no minimum offering amount required as a condition to the closing of this offering, the actual offering amount, placement agent fees and proceeds to us are not presently determinable and may be substantially less than the maximum amounts set forth above. We may sell fewer than all of the securities offered hereby, which may significantly reduce the amount of proceeds received by us, and investors in this offering will not receive a refund in the event that we do not sell an amount of securities sufficient to fund for our operations as described in the “Use of Proceeds” section herein. Thus, we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our operations in the short-term and may need to raise additional funds, which may not be available or available on terms acceptable to us.
You will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the net tangible book value per share of the common stock included in the units in this offering and may experience additional dilution of your investment in the future.
The effective price per share of common stock included in the units or issuable upon exercise of the common warrants is substantially higher than the net tangible book value per share of our common stock outstanding prior to this offering. Based on the assumed public offering price of $0.1592 per unit (the last reported sale price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on December 6, 2022) and assuming the sale of 100% of the units offered and no sale of any pre-funded units, being sold in this offering, and our net tangible book value per share as of September 30, 2022, if you purchase units in this offering, you will suffer immediate and substantial dilution of $0.3490 per share, with respect to the net tangible book value of the common stock Furthermore, if outstanding options or warrants are exercised or the warrants sold in this offering are exercised, you could experience further dilution. See the section titled “Dilution” below for a more detailed discussion of the dilution you will incur if you purchase units in this offering. Further, because we may need to raise additional capital to fund our anticipated level of operations, we may in the future sell substantial amounts of common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for common stock. These future issuances of equity or equity-linked securities, together with the exercise outstanding options or warrants and/or any additional shares issued in connection with acquisitions, if any, will likely result in further dilution to investors.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This prospectus contains, in additionRisks Related to historical information, certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), that includes information relating to future events, future financial performance, strategies, expectations, competitive environment, regulation and availability of resources. Such forward-looking statements include those that express plans, anticipation, intent, contingency, goals, targets or future development and/or otherwise are not statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and projections about future events and they are subject to risks and uncertainties known and unknown that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.
In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology, such as “may,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” “plan,” “potential” and similar expressions. Accordingly, these statements involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in them. Any forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed throughout this prospectus or incorporated herein by reference.
You should read this prospectus and the documents we have filed as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front cover of those documents.
Risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be different from those expressed or implied in our written or oral forward-looking statements may be found in this prospectus under the heading “Risk Factors” and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 under the headings “Risk Factors” and “Business,” as updated in our Quarterly Report(s) on Form 10-Q.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.
New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict which factors will arise. In addition, we cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. We qualify all of the information presented in this prospectus particularly our forward-looking statements, by these cautionary statements.
vi
INDUSTRY AND MARKET DATA
This prospectus contains estimates and other statistical data made by independent parties and by us relating to market size and growth and other data about our industry. We obtained the industry and market data in this prospectus from our own research as well as from industry and general publications, surveys and studies conducted by third parties. This data involves a number of assumptions and limitations and contains projections and estimates of the future performance of the industries in which we operate that are subject to a high degree of uncertainty, including those discussed in “Risk Factors”. We caution you not to give undue weight to such projections, assumptions and estimates. Further, industry and general publications, studies and surveys generally state that they have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. While we believe that these publications, studies and surveys are reliable, we have not independently verified the data contained in them. In addition, while we believe that the results and estimates from our internal research are reliable, such results and estimates have not been verified by any independent source.
vii
PROSPECTUS SUMMARY
The following summary highlights certain of the information contained elsewhere in this prospectus. Because this is only a summary, however, it does not contain all of the information you should consider before investing in our securities and it is qualified in its entirety by, and should be read in conjunction with, the more detailed information included elsewhere in this prospectus. Before you make an investment decision, you should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the risks of investing in our securities discussed under the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors.” You should also carefully read our financial statements, and the exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. Unless otherwise indicated, all share amounts and per share amounts in this prospectus have been presented on a pro forma basis to reflect the reverse stock split of our outstanding shares of common stock at a ratio of 1-for-8 that we effected on December 12, 2019.Our Industry
Company OverviewEconomic conditions, particularly in Italy and Europe, that have an adverse effect on the gaming industry may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Our business operations are currently concentrated in a single industry and largely in one geographic area (Italy) that is affected by international, national and local economic conditions. A downturn in the overall economy or economy in a specific region such as Italy or a reduction in demand for gaming in such area, may have an adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. We cannot predict the effect or duration of an economic slowdown in Italy or in the gaming industry, or the impact such slowdown may have on the demand for our leisure gaming products and services. If economic conditions deteriorate our consumers will have less disposable income to spend on wagers and our business may be adversely affected.
Intense competition in the leisure gaming industry may adversely affect our revenue and profitability.
We are an international, vertically integrated commercial-stage company engagedoperate in two principal aspects of thea highly competitive environment and we compete for operators, customers and advertisers with numerous well-established leisure gaming industry as (1) a business-to-consumer (“B2C”) licensed retail gaming operator (known as an “Operator”) offering our products through two sales distribution channels (i) retail land-based or on-site physical venues and (ii) online through PC, tablet and mobile distribution, and (2) as a business-to-business (“B2B”) betting technology provider (known as a “Provider”) offering our proprietary betting technology either (1) directly to licensed operators, or (2) through value-added re-sellers or systems integrators in the leisure betting industry.
As an Operator in the regulated Italian leisure betting market, we operate on a single-tier distribution strategy by collecting wagers on leisure betting products including a variety of lottery, casino gaming and sports bets through two channels: (i) online through websites on internet browsers, mobile applications and physical venues known as “web-shops” (internet cafes; kiosks, coffee-shops, convenience stores, restaurants and bars, etc.) where patrons can load their online gaming account through PC’s situated at each venue, and (ii) land-based through physical land-based retail venues (off-track betting shops, SSBT (“self-serve betting terminal”) kiosks, coffee-shops, convenience stores, restaurants, taverns and bars, etc.). We currently provide our gaming services through our subsidiaries, Multigioco Srl (“Multigioco”), and Ulisse GmbH (“Ulisse”). These operations are carried out under both land-based and online retail gaming licenses regulated by the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (“ADM”), and our Austrian Bookmaker license, that permit us to distribute leisure betting products such as sports betting, lotto tickets, virtual sports betting, online poker and casino gaming products through both physical, land-based retail locations as well as online through our licensed principalnumerous smaller and newer gaming website www.newgioco.it or commercial webskins linked tooperators. Many of our principal websitecompetitors have substantially longer operating histories, greater financial, technical, marketing or other resources, stronger brand and through mobile devices.
In Italy,customer recognition, larger intellectual property portfolios and broader global distribution and presence than we have. Our competitors may be able to offer products or functionality similar to ours at a more attractive price than we can by integrating or bundling such products with their other product offerings or may develop new technologies or services that are more attractive to other operators or our gamingcustomers. Acquisitions and consolidation in our industry may provide our competitors with even more resources or may increase the likelihood of our competitors offering bundled or integrated products with which we cannot effectively compete. New innovative start-ups and existing large companies that are making significant investments in research and development could also launch new products and services that are offeredcompetitive with ours and that could gain market acceptance quickly. In addition, we face potential competition from participants in adjacent markets that may enter our markets by leveraging related technologies and partnering with or acquiring other companies or providing alternative approaches to customers atprovide similar results. We also face competition for employees with the following three venues:
We currently service approximately 79,000 active online user accounts and an indeterminate number of walk-in customers at a combination of the three types of venues: 1,200 web-cafés (or “web-shops”), 7 corners and 117 agency locations.necessary technical skills.
As a global gaming technology Provider, we own and operate a betting software designed with a unique “distributed model” architecture colloquially named Elys Game Board (the “Platform”). The Platform is a fully integrated “omni-channel” framework that combines centralized technology for updating, servicing and operations with multi-channel functionality to accept all forms of customer payment through the two distribution channels described above. The omni-channel software design is fully integrated with a built in player gaming account management and a built-in sports book. As a Provider, we employ a multi-tier distribution strategy on both a direct to customer channel and on a Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) basis.
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TheWith the introduction of new technologies, the evolution of our Platform is certified byand new market entrants, we expect competition to intensify in the ADM andfuture. Increased competition generally could result in reduced sales, reduced margins, losses or the Malta Gaming Authority (“MGA”) in Malta and is owned byfailure of our subsidiary Odissea Betriebsinformatik Beratung GmbH (“Odissea”). The software architecture was developed and built on the latest Microsoft.Net Core framework, supporting both online customer gaming accounts as well as land-based bet processing capability with multi-channel functionality accepting all forms of payment methods (i.e., cash, e-wallet, bank card and wire transfer, etc.) backed by a real-time customer relationship management (“CRM”) and business intelligence (“BI”) program for streamlined cross-platform marketing as well as a synchronized financial accounting processes. Data is communicated directly to on-the-ground sales and marketing agents that manage and maintain both our online and land-based retail distribution.
The Platform allows our independent B2B and white-label end users to (i) rapidly and effectively model their gaming businesses and client gaming accounts, (ii) monitor and analyze performance on an ongoing basis, (iii) share dashboards, and (iv) generate management reports all within a fully integrated solution. In addition, our clients can use the built-in artificial intelligence and adaptive business intelligence modules to evaluate actual performance and leverage insights from analytics to make informed, timely decisions to drive future business. The unique ’shop-client’ architecture of the Platform to achieve or maintain more widespread market acceptance, any of which could harm our knowledge, is the first of its kindbusiness.
We expect that competition from internet gaming will continue to grow and intensify in the leisure betting industry. Elys was built around the specific needs of leisure betting operators and proven through our existing Multigioco distribution throughout Italy.
On January 30, 2019, we expanded our operations with our acquisition of Virtual Generation Limited (“VG” or “Virtual Generation”), which owns and has developed a virtual gaming software platform (“VGS”). VG is a Gaming Laboratories International (“GLI”) certified virtual sports and gaming software developer with a portfolio of products, including greyhound and horse racing; league play football (i.e., soccer); keno; and American Roulette. In addition, VG’s platform allows for customization for country-specific sports generation including applications in Latin American and African markets as well as unique tribal games tailored for the U.S. tribal gaming market. VG’s operations have grown in the highly competitive virtual sports market to approximately 18.5 million bet tickets sold in 2019. VG now operates in the following 12 countries: Italy, Peru, Nigeria, Paraguay, Albania, Honduras, Colombia, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Uganda, Nicaragua, and Turkey.
Organizational Structure
Our operations are carried out through three geographically organized groups: (i) an operational group which is based in Europe and maintains administrative offices headquartered in Rome, Italy with satellite offices for operations administration and risk management trading in Naples and Teramo, Italy and San Gwann, Malta; (ii) a technology group which is based in Innsbruck, Austria and manages software development, training and administration; and (iii) a corporate group which is based in North America and operates out of our principal executive offices in Toronto, Canada and satellite offices in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida through which we carry out corporate activities, handle day-to-day reporting duties, U.S. development planning and through which various independent contractors and vendors are engaged.
Our revenue streams primarily consists of transactional revenue and service revenue. Through our subsidiaries Multigioco acquired on August 15, 2014 and Ulisse acquired July 1, 2016, we generate transactional revenue through collection of bets from sports wagering and gaming from online betting and land-based betting shops located throughout Italy, and through our subsidiary, Odissea acquired July 1, 2016, we generate service revenue generated from providing our Platform services to third party operators on a B2B basis. In addition, our revenue during the year ended December 31, 2019 included revenue generated by VG acquired January 30, 2019, for 11 months of the year ended December 31, 2019, consisting of royalties invoiced for the sale of virtual games through authorized agents. We generated revenue of $35,583,131 for the year ended December 31, 2019 and $34,575,097 for the year ended December 31, 2018, substantially all of which was generated from revenue from operations or services provided in Italy. For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, net gaming revenues represented 98.9% and 99.2%, respectively of our revenue and Platform and service revenue represented 1.1% and 0.8%, respectively of revenue. We generated revenue of $14,980,443 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and $18,371,648 for the six months ended June 30, 2019, substantially all of which was generated from revenue from operations or services provided in Italy. For the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, net gaming revenues represented 99.8% and 991%, respectively of our revenue and Platform and service revenue represented 0.2% and 0.9%, respectively of revenue. We also formed a non-operating subsidiary Newgioco Group, Inc in Canada on January 17, 2017 for potential future operations in Canada, Elys Technology Group, Limited in Malta on April 4, 2019 for future opportunities, on November 26, 2019 we formed Newgioco Colombia SAS to develop our operations through South and Central America, and on May 28, 2020 we formed Elys Gameboard Technologies, LLC in State of Delaware for development of our U.S. sports betting operations.
Our StrengthsUnited States.
We believe we have established ourselves as one of the leaders in the Italian leisure betting market. Below are our strengths that we believe should enable us to capture a meaningful share of the United States and global leisure betting market:
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Our Strategy
Our goal is to expand our market presence by entering new foreign markets while at the same time further penetrating the Italian and additional European markets. We expect new markets to be a large source of our future growth, in particular, the United States market is one where we intend to offerexpand the use of our Platform to existing commercial and tribal casinos, retail betting operators and franchise enterprises.
Development of U.S. and Other Foreign Markets
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Further Penetration in the Italian Market
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DevelopmentUnited States; however, that will be dependent upon changes in U.S. Market
We believe that the U.S. sports betting and online gaming market presents a large opportunity to deploy our Platform on a SaaS basis to several potential independent commercial and tribal casino and gaming operators throughout the United States following a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision. We have analyzed the technical specifications checklist supplied by Gaming Laboratories International (“GLI”) to verify that coding in our software meets the functional specifications set forth in the GLI-33 standards (The Gaming Laboratories International technical standard for event wagering systems). We believe that our Platform currently meets the majority of the GLI-33 certification standards and we expect to be in a position to send our software to GLI for certification in two phases as follows: (1) the first phase began on July 15, 2020, is expected to last about six weeks for verification of retail functionality (such as POS and SSBT); and (2) the second phase is expected to begin by October 2020 for the verification of mobile and website functionality. Upon obtaining GLI-33 certification and obtaining regulatory approvals to operate, we expect to be well-positioned to commence processing sports bets in the U.S. on a SaaS basis through our Platform.
As part of our multi-year business growth strategy, we made significant investments for expansion into new markets outside of Italy, including preparation of the platform for the GLI-33 certification, professional services, trade show marketing and brand promotion in the second half of 2018 and first half of 2019 to enter and then build a foundation aimed at accelerating our recently announced U.S. expansion plans. To support these principal objectives, we initiated an ambitious investment strategy that is fundamental to the successful execution of our long-term business plan. These fundamental investments have resulted in short-term, non-recurring expenses related to key elements such as regulatory and policy requirements and establishing a centralized US-based headquarters. In the third quarter of 2018, we also established a plan to relocate our CEO to the U.S., commenced the recruitment and evaluation of key officers, as well as allocating a software development team at Odissea for coding and submission of our Platform for GLI-33 certification to GLI for the U.S. market.
In March 2019, we entered into a five-year agreement with Fleetwood Gaming, Inc. for the exclusive rights to distribute our Platform at select non-tribal locations such as sports bars and taverns in the state of Montana. The multi-year agreement is expected to allow Fleetwood to install our Platform throughout Fleetwood's distribution network in Montana.
In April 2019, we entered into a five-year agreement with the Chippewa Cree Tribe in Box Elder, Montana to install our Platform at the Northern Winz Casino. In this regard, in September 2019, we transacted the first legal Class 1 real-money bet in the U.S. on Indian Horse Relay Racing and on December 21, 2019 on traditional Indian Stick Game. Class 1 betting represents traditional indigenous sporting events or games that are not classed as mainstream sports bets.
In October 2019, we entered into a multi-year agreement with Grand Central, LLC, a retail sports bar operator in Washington, DC to provide sports betting products and services in their establishments upon the completion of their licensing process.
On May 28, 2020, the Company organized Elys Gameboard Technologies, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary for the purpose of expanding the Company's sports betting operations throughout the US. The Company is in the process of seeking its first sports betting license in Washington, DC and anticipates launching its new US sports betting platform with its first US operator client by the end of 2020.
On June 11, 2020, our Odissea subsidiary passed Stage 1 of the ISO-27001 certification process for safety management which involves an informal review of the Information Security Management System (ISMS), for example, checking the existence and completeness of key documentation such as the organization's information security policy, Statement of Applicability (SoA) and Risk Treatment Plan (RTP). The procedures for Stage 2 certification, involves a more detailed and formal compliance audit and independent testing of the ISMS against the requirements specified in ISO-27001, and is expected to be completed in approximately 4 months.
In September 2020, we engaged Matteo Monteverdi, former senior executive of Sportradar and IGT as President of the Company.
The commencement of betting transactions in Montana and Washington, DC are subject to obtaining the required certification, licensing and approvals from the Gambling Control Division of the Montana Department of Justice and the District of Columbia Office of the Lottery and Charitable Games, respectively, which has not been determined as of the date of this registration statement.
Corporate Information
Newgioco Group, Inc. is a Delaware corporation incorporated on August 26, 1998.
Our principal headquarters are located at 130 Adelaide Street, West, Suite 701, Toronto, Ontario M5H 2K4, and the offices of our wholly-owned subsidiaries are located in U.S.A., Canada, Italy, Malta and Austria. Our subsidiaries include: Multigioco Srl (acquired on August 15, 2014), as well as Ulisse GmbH and Odissea Betriebsinformatik Beratung GmbH (both acquired on July 1, 2016), Virtual Generation Limited (acquired on January 30, 2019), Newgioco Group, Inc. (Canada) formed on January 17, 2017, Elys Technology Group Limited, a company organized under the laws of Republic of Malta on April 4, 2019, Newgioco Colombia SAS, a company organized under the laws of Colombia formed on November 26, 2019, and on May 28, 2020 we formed Elys Gameboard Technologies, LLC in State of Delaware. Our telephone number is +39-391-306-4134. Our corporate website address is www.newgiocogroup.com. The information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this registration statement, and you should not consider any information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website as part of this registration statement or in deciding whether to purchase or sell our securities.
We have proprietary rights to a number of trademarks, service marks and trade names used in this registration statement which are important to our business including “New Gioco”, “Aleabet”, “OriginalBet”, “LovingBet” and “Elys.” Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks and trade names in this registration statement are referred to without the ® and TM symbols, but such references should not be construed as any indicator that their respective owners will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, their rights thereto. All other trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this registration statement are the property of their respective owners.
Summary Risks
Our businesslegislation and our ability to obtain licenses and other regulatory approvals and we expect that we will face increased competition from other leisure betting operators as the potential for legalized internet gaming continues to grow. Several states in the United States are currently considering legislation that would legalize internet gaming at the state level. As a result of the Justice Department’s (“DOJ”) December 2011 opinion concerning the applicability of the Wire Act to internet gaming, certain states including Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey have enacted legislation to authorize various forms of intrastate internet gaming. In addition, the recently revised DOJ opinion on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (“UIGEA”) and competition from internet lotteries and other internet wagering gaming services, which allow their customers to wager on a wide variety of sporting events and play Las Vegas-style casino games from home, could divert customers from our products and thus adversely affect our business. Such internet wagering services are likely to expand in future years and become more accessible to domestic customers as a result of initiatives in some states to consider legislation to legalize intrastate internet wagering. There have also been proposals that would specifically legalize internet gaming under federal law. If we are unable to execute our U.S. strategy, anticipate, react to or penetrate the U.S. market in a timely manner, our competitive position could weaken, which could adversely affect our business strategy are subject to a numberand results of risks of which you should be aware of before you decide to buy our securities. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following which you should carefully consider and which are discussed more fully in “Risk Factors” beginning on page 9 of this prospectus.
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THE OFFERING
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RISK FACTORSoperations.
InvestingIf we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we could suffer penalties or be required to make significant changes to our operations. In addition, changes in laws and regulations with respect to the gaming industry, and the application or interpretation of existing laws and regulations applicable to our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risks, together with all of the other information contained in this prospectus, including our financial statements and related notes, before making a decision to invest in our securities. Any of the following risks couldoperations may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition and could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline, which would cause you to lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Business
Our business has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China. Since then, the COVID-19 coronavirus has spread to multiple countries, including the United States. The impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak caused the temporary closures of our retail locations throughout Italy, suspension of professional sports competitions throughout the world negatively impacting our ability to offer sports gaming products and could have a negative impact on our business.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. This contagious disease outbreak, which has continued to spread, and the related adverse public health developments, have adversely affected work forces, economies and financial markets globally. The outbreak caused the temporary closures of our physical locations where we provide our gaming services throughout Italy, of which some locations began to re-open on May 4, 2020 and the remainder reopened June 9, 2020, and the suspension of professional sports competitions throughout the world negatively impacting our ability to offer sports gaming products and resulted in a decrease in our revenue for the second quarter of 2020. The recent quarantines, the timing and length of containment and eradication solutions, travel restrictions, absenteeism by infected workers have had an adverse impact our sales and operating results. We have been unable to meet the extended deadlines for filing with the SEC our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 due to the travel restrictions imposed by the governments in Italy, the USA and other European countries as a result of the pandemic that prevented our officers and management as well as professional staff of our independent public accounting firm from travelling to our office locations located in Italy to compile and review information necessary to complete our filing within the extended time period allowed by the SEC. In addition, the pandemic could result in an economic downturn that could impact the demand for our products. We expect this global pandemic will continue to have an impact on our revenue and our results of operations, the size and duration of which we are currently unable to predict.
In response to the spread of COVID-19 as well as public health directives and orders, we have implemented work-from-home policies to support the community efforts to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and protect employees, complying with guidance from national and local government and health authorities. We implemented a number of measures to ensure employee safety and business continuity. Business travel has been suspended, and online and teleconference technology is used to meet virtually rather than in person. The effects of the governmental orders and our work-from-home policies have negatively impact productivity, disrupt our business and delay our progress in implementing our business plan, the magnitude of which will depend, in part, on the length and severity of the restrictions and other limitations on our ability to conduct our business in the ordinary course.
In addition, the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus could disrupt our operations due to absenteeism by infected or ill members of management or other employees, or absenteeism by members of management and other employees who elect not to come to work due to the illness affecting others in our office or other workplace, or due to quarantines. COVID-19 illness could also impact members of our Board of Directors resulting in absenteeism from meetings of the directors or committees of directors and making it more difficult to convene the quorums of the full Board of Directors or its committees needed to conduct meetings for the management of our affairs.
The global outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to rapidly evolve. The extent to which the COVID-19 outbreak may continue to impact our business will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, such as the ultimate geographic spread of the disease, the duration of the outbreak, travel restrictions and social distancing in Italy, the United States and other countries, business closures or business disruptions and the effectiveness of actions taken in Italy, the United States and other countries to contain and treat the disease. We do not yet know the full extent of potential delays or impacts on our business, operations, or the global economy as a whole. While the spread of COVID-19 may eventually be contained or mitigated, there is no guarantee that a future outbreak of this or any other widespread epidemics will not occur, or that the global economy will recover, either of which could seriously harm our business.
Because we have a limited operating history, we may not be able to successfully manage our business or achieve profitability.
We have a limited operating history with respect to our gaming operations upon which you can evaluate our prospects and our potential value. We began our gaming operations in 2014, when we completed the acquisition of Multigioco, a corporation organized under the laws of the Republic of Italy, which is now our wholly owned subsidiary and was granted its ADM Comunitaria GAD (Online Gaming) license on July 4, 2012. As a result of the acquisition of Multigioco, our principal business became a licensed leisure gaming operator offering web-based and land-based sports betting, lottery and gaming products for our customers. The subsidiary that owns our Platform, Odissea, was acquired by us along with our Austrian bookmaker subsidiary, Ulisse in June 2016. In January 2019, we acquired VG, a company that owns and has developed a virtual gaming software platform. Therefore, it is difficult to evaluate our business. If we cannot successfully manage our business, we may not be able to generate future profits and may not be able to support our operations.
The likelihood of our success and performance must be considered in light of the expenses, complications and delays frequently encountered in connection with the establishment and expansion of new business and the highly competitive environment in which we operate.
We have incurred substantial losses in the past and it may be difficult to achieve profitability.
We have a history of losses and are anticipated to incur additional losses in the development of our business. For the year ended December 31, 2019, we had a net loss of $9.3 million and for the period ended June 30, 2020 we had a net loss of $2.4 million. As of December 31, 2019, and June 30, 2020 we had accumulated deficits of $25.6 million, and $23.2 million, respectively. Since we are currently in the early stages of our development and strategy, we intend to continue to invest in sales and marketing, product and solution development and operations, including by hiring additional personnel, upgrading our technology and infrastructure and expanding into new geographical markets. To the extent we are successful in increasing our customer base, we expect to also incur increased losses in the short term despite the fact that our Platform is easily scalable because costs associated with entering new markets, acquiring clients, customers and operators are generally incurred up front, while service and transactional revenues are generally recognized at future dates if at all. Our efforts to grow our business may be more costly than we expect, and we may not be able to increase our revenues enough to offset our higher operating expenses. We may incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons, including the other risks described in this section, and unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications and delays and other unknown events. If we are unable to achieve and sustain profitability, the value of our business and common stock may significantly decrease. If we are unable to maintain our profitability, the value of our business and common stock may decrease. Although we cannot assure that we will be able to maintain a profitable level of operations to meet our obligations arising from normal business operations, in recent years we have generated sufficient revenue to maintain our existing operations and continue our moderate organic growth.
We have material weaknesses and other deficiencies in our internal control and accounting procedures.
Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our management assessed the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2019 and concluded that we had a material weakness in our internal controls due to our limited resources and therefore our disclosure controls and procedures are not effective in providing material information required to be included in our periodic SEC filings on a timely basis and to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our periodic SEC filings is accumulated and communicated to our management to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure about our internal control over financial reporting. Due to limited staffing, we are not always able to detect minor errors or omissions in financial reporting. In addition, as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, our management concluded that we had a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting related to a limited segregation of duties due to our limited resources and the small number of employees. If we fail to comply with the rules under Sarbanes-Oxley related to disclosure controls and procedures in the future, or, if we continue to have material weaknesses and other deficiencies in our internal control and accounting procedures and disclosure controls and procedures, our stock price could decline significantly and raising capital could be more difficult. If additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies are discovered or if we otherwise fail to address the adequacy of our internal control and disclosure controls and procedures our business may be harmed. Moreover, effective internal controls are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important to helping prevent financial fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business and operating results could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, and the trading price of our securities could drop significantly.
On May 1, 2020, our Audit Committee, following discussions with management, determined that the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 filed with the SEC on March 8, 2019 should no longer be relied upon. The determination of the Audit Committee to restate the above-referenced financial statements was based upon certain errors to its financial statements that were identified by management during the course of preparing our financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019. These errors consisted primarily of the following: (i) the understatement of non-cash consolidated depreciation and amortization by $788,666; (ii) the understatement of unrealized foreign exchange losses of $178,976. In addition, the Company identified other miscellaneous immaterial adjustments amounting to $9,506. We also analyzed the impact of the aforementioned adjustments and other accumulated misstatements on the financial statements for the interim and annual periods prior to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, and concluded that a cumulative opening retained earnings adjustment is appropriate as the correction of the errors in each prior period would not be material individually or in the aggregate to any such prior interim or annual period. However, we concluded that correcting the cumulative impact of the errors would be material to its results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2018 and the three subsequent quarters and therefore, the Audit Committee also determined that the unaudited consolidated financial statements for the quarters ended March 31, 2019, June 30, 2019 and September 30, 2019 contained in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q previously filed with the SEC on May 15, 2019, August 16, 2019 and November 14, 2019 should no longer be relied upon.
We expect to continue relying on our discretionary available cash and available bank credit facilities to fund our additional acquisitions or enter into new business opportunities, which bank credit facilities may not be available at reasonable terms, if at all.
We have recently initiated an ambitious investment strategy including taking steps to enter the U.S. market which has led to an increase in expenses. Our ability to execute our growth plan is dependent upon our ability to generate profits from operations in the future, bank credit facilities and/or our ability to obtain additional financing and such financing may not be available on reasonable terms, if at all.
If we should lose our online or land-based licenses, or if the licenses are not renewed for any reason, including our failure to successfully bid for location rights at the renewal auction, our business would be materially adversely impacted.
Our ability to generate revenue from gaming operations in Italy is dependent upon our ability to maintain our online and land-based licenses. We currently hold four gaming licenses upon which our business is dependent: a Bersani license, a Monti license, a GAD licensehighly regulated, and an Austrian bookmaker license. Eachwe are subject to many laws and regulations at the federal, provincial and local government levels in the jurisdictions in which we operate. These laws and regulations require that our operators and our operations meet various licensing, certification and other requirements, including those relating to:
· | ownership of our operators; | |
· | our and our operators’ relationships with sponsors and other referral sources; | |
· | approvals and other regulations affecting the acquisition of operators, capital expenditures or the addition of services; | |
· | qualifications of management and support personnel; | |
· | maintenance and protection of records; | |
· | billing for services by gaming product providers, including appropriate treatment of overpayments and credit balances; | |
· | privacy and security of individually identifiable personal information; | |
· | online gaming and gaming in general; | |
· | commercial advertising; | |
· | subscription rates; and | |
· | foreign investments. |
Furthermore, the rules and regulations governing the gaming industry are evolving and subject to interpretation in the territories in which we operate and the territories in which we may operate in the future. Promulgation of the four licenses that we hold can be terminatednew laws, changes in current laws, and changes in interpretations by the regulator at any time if we failcourts and other government agencies of existing laws, may require us to modify or cease our operations. Compliance with changes in such laws and regulations may increase our operating expenses. In addition, our failure to comply with their regulations. In addition, our GAD licensecurrent or future laws and regulations may expose us to significant liabilities. Our inability or failure to comply with laws and regulations that was issued to Multigiocogovern the gaming industry in 2011 is up for renewalthe territories in 2021 and our Bersani land-based license that provides rights to seven corners is currently up for renewal at such time aswhich we operate may result in the ADM should determine (which is expected to occur between 2020 and 2022) as is our Monti land-based license that provides rights to two agencies. Inasmuch as the renewal process for licenses is conducted through a call to tender auction process, even if we have fully complied in all respects with all requirementsloss of the ADM, there is no guarantee that we will be the highest bidder at auction and therefore there is no guarantee that our licenses or location rights will be renewed. In addition, althoughwhich would have a material adverse effect on our software is currently certified for usebusiness, financial conditions and results of operations.
Regulators at the federal and provincial level in Italy any updates toare monitoring and restricting the software or changes to key functions that we implement, require recertification, forissuance and renewal of gaming licenses which there can be no assurance thatcould have an adverse effect on our software will qualify. If we are unable to renew our licenses or obtain recertification, our business would be materially adversely impacted.growth.
Rights to online and land-based licenses are only availableFederal regulators in Italy at limited times when licenses are being renewed. In addition, the maximum number of land-based location rights that any one operator may bid on at auction is 20% of the total market being auctioned. Dueenforcing new restrictions to such limitations on acquiring new location rights in Italy, our ability to expandreduce the number of land-based locations that we operate will dependindependent operators in large partthe gaming industry, and a moratorium on new licenses for gaming operators in Italy has been implemented. The success of our business depends upon our ability to acquire operators in new regional locations throughout Italy. The restrictions on the licensing of new operators may make it more difficult for us to locate operators that holdwe may be able to acquire. Our inability to acquire operators and expand our operations into new regional locations throughout Italy may have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
We might be required to acquire additional location rights under our licenses or acquire operators that have existing location rights under their licenses in order to remain in compliance with laws that are required to operate in Italy. Our inability to acquire such additional location rights or operators could result in an adverse effect on our operating results.
Rights to land-based licenses and location rights. We expectonline licenses are only distributed during infrequent license renewal auctions held by the ADM. Since June 30, 2016, the last renewal date that passed, the ADM has postponed the renewal auction and imposed a significant portionmoratorium on the issuance of our additional revenue to be derived from gaming revenue earned by operators that we have recently acquired or will acquirenew sports betting licenses and the standardization of regulations in Italy. The outcome of ongoing proceedings in the future. AlthoughEuropean Court of Justice regarding the application of Italian regulations for wagering under the Intra-EU model remains pending. In the Interim, the ADM is delaying the Italian license renewal process. As such, the ADM has temporarily instituted operating authorizations for pre-2016 concessions that allow operators, which we have acquiredincluding Multigioco to continue to operate until the next license renewal is announced and thoseconcluded. The outcome and duration of this process is presently unknown. No assurance can be provided that we acquire in the future may have activeour gaming licenseswebsite and location rights, we can provide no assurance that the existing license and location rightslocations of any particular operator we have acquired or that we may acquire in the future will be renewed or retainedpermitted to operate or that we will be able to acquire additional operators and increase our client base. If we are restricted from acquiring target operators or their client base, our operating results may will be adversely affected.
If we are unable to respond to changes in consumer preferences, attract new customers or sell new or additional products, our future revenue and business will be adversely affected.
Our retail leisure betting business, website and web-shops operate in an industry that is subject to:
If we fail to anticipate and effectively respond to any of the above changes, the demand for our products and services that we currently offer or that we may offer in the future may be reduced. Additionally, increasing incremental sales to our current customer base will require additional sales and marketing efforts, which may not be successful. Any failure to attract new customers or maintain and expand current customer relationships will have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Failure to anticipate and respond to changes in consumer preferences and demands could lead to, among other things, customer dissatisfaction and failure to attract and retain consumers of our products which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
If we fail to acquire, integrate and develop operators and new technologies on favorable economic terms, our future growth and operating results could be adversely affected.
We anticipate that the future growth and success of our business will be dependent upon our successful acquisition of operators and development of new technologies, such as our recent acquisition of VG. We may in the future seek to acquire or invest in businesses, products or technologies that we believe could complement or expand our solutions, enhance our technical capabilities or otherwise offer growth opportunities. The pursuit of potential acquisitions may divert the attention of management and cause us to incur various expenses in identifying, investigating and pursuing suitable acquisitions, whether or not the acquisition purchases are completed. In addition, we have limited experience in acquiring other businesses. If we acquire additional businesses, we may not be able to successfully integrate the acquired personnel, operations and technologies, or effectively manage the combined business following the acquisition. We may not be able to find and identify desirable acquisition targets or be successful in entering into an agreement with any particular target. Acquisitions could also result in dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt, which could adversely affect our operating results. In addition, if an acquired business fails to meet our expectations, our operating results, business and financial condition may suffer. The difficulties and risks associated with the integration of the operations of new operators into our existing business, include:
As a result of these difficulties and risks, we may not be able to successfully grow our business.
If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining relationships with third parties, our business may be adversely impacted.
In order to grow our business, we anticipate that we will continue to depend on relationships with third parties, such as deployment partners, and technology and content providers. Identifying partners, and negotiating and documenting relationships with them, requires significant time and resources. Our competitors may be more effective in providing incentives to third parties to favor their products or services or to prevent or reduce the use of our services. In addition, acquisitions of our partners by our competitors could result in a decrease in the number of our current and potential customers, as our partners may no longer facilitate the adoption of our solutions by potential customers.
If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining our relationships with third parties, our ability to compete in the marketplace or to grow our revenues could be impaired and our operating results may suffer.
We cannot assure you that any acquisition we complete will result in short-term or long-term benefits to us. Our business strategy includes expanding our products and services and we may seek acquisitions of synergistic companies to do so. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including substantial cash expenditures; potentially dilutive issuance of equity securities; the potential incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities, some of which may be difficult or impossible to identify at the time of acquisition; difficulties in assimilating the acquired technologies or the operations of the acquired companies; diverting our management's attention away from other business concerns; risks of entering markets in which we have limited or no direct experience; and the potential loss of our key employees or key employees of the acquired companies.
We may misjudge the value or worth of an acquired product, company or business. In addition, our future success will depend in part on our ability to integrate and manage the associated acquisitions. We cannot assure you that we will be able to make the combination of our business with that of acquired products, businesses or companies work or be successful. Furthermore, the development or expansion of our business or any acquired products, business or companies may require a substantial capital investment by us. We may not have the necessary funds or they might not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. We may also seek to raise funds by selling shares of our preferred or common stock, which could dilute each current shareholder’s ownership interest in our company. Our operating results and financial condition will be adversely affected if we fail to implement our business strategy or if we invest resources in a strategy that ultimately proves unsuccessful.
If we do not have sufficient capital resources to complete acquisitions and manage our operations, our ability to implement our business plan could be adversely affected.
We intend to continue to make investments to support our business and may require additional funds to respond to business challenges, including the need to develop new features or enhance our existing solutions, improve our operating infrastructure or acquire complementary businesses and technologies. We intend embarking on an aggressive roll out of our operation in the US markets over the next twenty-four months and anticipate that we will need cash of approximately $10 million to $15 million to execute this successfully and to fund our increasing working capital requirements. Although we believe that our existing cash resources together with the revenue from operations will be sufficient to fund existing operations over the next twelve months from the date hereof, if revenue should decrease, we will not be able to fully implement our US roll out unless we raise additional capital. Accordingly, we will need capital to implement our business plan, and may seek to finance operator acquisitions and development projects through bank, debt or equity financings. Disruptions to financial markets or other challenging economic conditions may adversely impact our ability to complete any such financings or the terms of any such financings may be unacceptable or unfavorable to us. To the extent that we issue equity securities in connection with any proposed acquisitions, our current stockholders will experience dilution of their holdings. To the extent we incur debt, we may be subject to restrictive covenants that impact our ability to conduct our business. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to obtain financing necessary to implement our business plan or that any such financing will be on terms acceptable to us.
We derive a significant portion of our revenue from gaming sales through our website and websites of our betting Platform clients. A decline in the popularity of our website or those of our Platform clients will negatively impact our business and risk our future growth.
We currently derive and expect to continue to derive substantially all of our primary source of revenue and service fees from the sales of gaming products and services sold through our website or websites operated by clients of our betting Platform. As such, the growth and market demand for our products and services are dependent upon, among other things, our ability to attract and retain new users and having existing users increase their activity on these websites. If we are unable to maintain or grow our revenue from sales through our website and our client’s websites, our future growth and revenues may be adversely affected.
Because our gaming operations are concentrated within Italy, we are subject to greater risks than a gaming company that is more geographically and internationally diversified.
Due to the fact that our gaming operations are concentrated within Italy, we are subject to greater risks than a gaming company that is more geographically and internationally diversified. As such, our business may be significantly affected by risks common to the Italian leisure betting market. For example, the changing government regulations on gaming licenses as well as general economic conditions in Italy and the impact of any events that disrupt our ability to offer our products and services can adversely affect our business. We cannot control the government process that awards gaming licenses to operators. Reductions in the number of licenses and frequency of issuing licenses by any government regulator can impact our ability to operate our business.
Our current expansion strategy,records and submissions to regulatory agencies may contain inaccurate or unsupportable submissions which includes expansion through VGmay result in the various countries in which it operates and in the United States through the usean under or overstatement of our Platform certifications,revenues and subject us to various penalties and may be difficult to implement because the licensing and certification requirements to operate in the United States and other countries are currently indeterminable.adversely affect our operations.
Our current expansion strategy includes soliciting existing licensed operators inA major component of the United States offering sports betting in states that allow sports betting to use our Platform. We have analyzed the technical specifications checklist supplied by GLI to verify that coding in our software meets the functional specifications set forth in the GLI-33 certification standards, whichregulatory environment is the latest levelinterpretation of GLI certificationwinnings and tax calculation procedures established by the US and Italian gaming regulators. Inaccurate or unsupportable submissions, inaccurate records for event wagering systems,gaming coin-in or handle (turnover), client data and we believe that our Platform currently meetserroneous winning claims could result in inaccurate revenues being reported. Such errors are subject to correction or retroactive adjustment in later periods and may be reflected in financial statements for periods subsequent to the majority of GLI-33 certification standards; however, sinceperiod in which the individual states in the United States that allow sports betting have not yet determined what certifications willrevenue was recorded. We may also be required for our Platform to be used in such states, it is impossible for us to know with certainty whether our Platform will meetrefund a portion of the certification requirements to operate in the United States. We also intend to expand our operations through VG in the various countries in which it operates; however, to daterevenue that we have not had operations in most of those countriesreceived which, depending on its magnitude, may damage our reputation and there can be no assurance that our expansion in those countries will be successful.
We depend upon our officersrelationship with regulatory agencies and other key employees. Our inability to retain such officers and key employees or recruit additional qualified personnel may have a material adverse effect on our business.results of operations or cash flows.
Our future operationsThe ADM in Italy conducts weekly account audits and successes dependsweeps for taxes in large part uponaddition to random onsite inspections for online connection to the continued serviceADM network as well as searches for nefarious programming or routers which can alter the reporting requirements of the ADM. It is possible that our officersacquired Austrian operator, that did not hold a domestic Italian license and other key employees. Changes in our managementwas operating under inter-European business principles, could have an adverse effect on our business. We are dependent uponreceive letters from ADM auditors requesting the active participationpayment of several key management personnel, including Michele Ciavarella, our Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Matteo Monteverdi, our President, Alessandro Marcelli, our Vice President of Operations,fines for alleged violations and Luca Pasquini, our Vice President of Technology, all of whom provide our strategic direction. Any failure to retain our key management could negatively affect our ability to recruit and retain personnel. We do not carry key person life insurance on any of our senior management or other key personnel. In addition, our Chief Executive Officer is a Canadian citizenerrors. As such, we will incur expenses associated with a principal residence in Canada, and our Vice President Operations and Vice President Technology are Italian citizens with their principal residences in Italy. If they become unable or ineligible to legally travelresponding to and work inappealing such requests, as well as the United States, their ability to perform some of their duties for our company could be materially adversely affected.
We must hire highly skilled technical personnel as employees and/or as independent contractors in order to develop our products. As of the date of this registration statement, we have 58 employees and 15 independent contractors. The competition for highly skilled technical, managerial and other personnel is intense and we may not be able to retain or recruit such personnel. Our recruiting and retention success is substantially dependent on our ability to offer competitive salaries and benefits to our employees. We must compete with companies that possess greater financial and other resources than we do and that may be more attractive to potential employees and contractors. To be competitive, we may have to increase the compensation, bonuses, stock options and other fringe benefits offered to employees in order to attract and retain such personnel. The costs of retainingpaying any shortfalls in addition to the possible fines and penalties. Demands for payments can also occur even if an operator is acquired by means of an asset transfer. Our inability to dispute demands or attracting new personnelpay requests for underpayments may have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results. If we fail to attract and retain the technical and managerial personnel we need to be successful, our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.and results of operations.
If we are not able to maintainWe may become the subject of Italian federal and enhanceprovincial investigations in the future and our brand, our business operating results and financial condition may be adversely affected.
We believe that maintainingBoth Italian federal and enhancing our reputation for our advanced, cost effective sports bettingprovincial government agencies have heightened and coordinated civil and criminal enforcement efforts as part of numerous ongoing investigations of gaming technology software is critical to our relationships with our existing customers and operators and to our ability to attract new customers and operators. We also believe that the importance of brand recognition and software creativity will increase as competition in our market increases. We devote significant resources to developing and maintaining our brand and innovative betting technology leadership, with a focus on identifying and interpreting emerging trends in the market, shaping and guiding industry dialogue, and expanding the adoption of online sports betting and gaming software solutions. Our brand promotion activities may not ultimately be successful or yield increased revenue. In addition, independent industry analysts provide reviews of our platform,companies, as well as productstheir executives and services offered by our competitors,managers. These investigations relate to, among other things diversion practices if an agent or store owner were to disconnect (i.e., remove ethernet plug from internet) the betting terminal or PC from the ADM network.
In addition, we may employ executives and perceptionmanagers, some of our betting platform inwhom may have worked at other gaming companies that are or may become the marketplacesubject of ADM investigations and private litigation. Such executives and managers may be significantly influenced by these reviews. If these reviews areincluded in governmental investigations or named as defendants in private litigation. A governmental investigation of us, our executives or our managers could divert our management’s attention, result in significant expenses, as well as negative or less positive as compared to those of our competitors’ productspublicity and services, our brand and business may be adversely affected.
The promotion of our brand requires us to make substantial expenditures, and we anticipate that the expenditures will increase as our market becomes more competitive, as we expand into new markets and as more sales are generated. To the extent that these activities yield increased revenue, this revenue may not offset the increased expenses we incur. If we do not successfully maintain and enhance our brand, our business may not grow, we may have reduced pricing power relative to competitors, and we could lose customers and operators or fail to attract potential new customers and operators, all of which would adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.business.
We currently depend onOur current operations are international in scope and may continue to be dependent on third parties to provide certain components and products we distribute through our online gaming platform, and any increased costs associated with third party developers or any delay or interruption in production may negatively affect both our ability to provide access to the Platform and our ability to continue our operations.are planning further geographic expansion, creating a variety of potential operational challenges.
We currently depend on third partieshave an office location in Canada, business operations and office location in the United States and business operations and offices in Europe and intend to provide some products throughopen additional offices in other countries. If we expand in the future, our Platform. Theoffices, personnel and operations may be further dispersed around the world. In connection with such expansion, we may face a number of challenges, including costs associated with relyingdeveloping software and providing support in additional languages, varying seasonality patterns, potential adverse movement of currency exchange rates, longer payment cycles and difficulties in collecting accounts receivable in some countries, tariffs and trade barriers, a variety of regulatory or contractual limitations on third parties may increase our operating and development costs and negatively affect our ability to operate, because we cannot control the developer's personnel, schedule or resources. We may experience delays in finalizing Platform updates. In addition, our reliance upon third party developers exposes us to risks, includingadverse tax events, reduced control over quality assurance and costs of development. If any of the foregoing occurs, we could lose our current and prospective customers. In addition, we may be required to rely on certain technology that we license from third-parties, including software that we integrate and use with software that we may develop internally. We cannot provide any assurances that these third-party technology licenses will be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. The inability to establish any of these technology licenses, or the loss of such licenses if established, could result in delays in completing any Platform updates or changes until equivalent technology can be identified, licensed and integrated. Any such delays could materially adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
Specifically, our agreements with Microgame and SNAI to develop and operate some components of our gaming products and process certain land-based retail transactions is important to our operations. If we fail to comply with any of the terms or conditions of any such agreement, Microgame or SNAI may terminate our agreement or if such agreement expires and we are unable to find a suitable replacement, our business, operating results and financial condition would be materially adversely affected.
We depend on payments from third-party service providers, including government regulated gaming agencies. If we are unable to collect such payments or these payments decrease or do not increase as our costs increase, our financial condition and operating results may be adversely affected.
We depend, in part, on private entities and regulated third-party sources of payment for the gross gaming revenue earned by our operators. The amount our operators receive for their services may be adversely affected by market and cost factors as well as other factors over which we have no control, including future changes to the payment systems, the cost containment and utilization decisions of third-party service providers and the global economy. We have no assurance that future changes to betting odds from data providers for sporting events, table rake from poker providers and tax rates on game offerings, cost containment measures implemented by private third-party service providers, or other factors affecting payments for gaming services or our ability to collect such payments will not adversely affect our, financial condition and operating results.
If we have a security incident or breach involving unauthorized access to customer data, our Platform may be perceived as lacking sufficient security, customers may reduce their use of, or stop using our Platform and we may incur significant liabilities
Our Platform involves the storage and transmission of our customer’s confidential and proprietary information, which may include the personal data and information on their customers, players, suppliers and agents. As a result, unauthorized access or use of customer data could expose us to regulatory actions, litigation, investigations, remediation costs, damage to our reputation and brand, disclosure obligations, loss of customer and partner confidence in the security of our solutions and resulting fees, costs, expenses, loss of revenues, and other potential liabilities. While we have security measures in place designed to protect the integrity of customer information and prevent data loss, misappropriation, and other security breaches, if these measures are inadequate or are compromised as a result of third-party action, including intentional misconduct by computer hackers, theft, employee error, malfeasance or otherwise, our reputation could be damaged, our business may suffer, and we could incur significant liabilities. Cybersecurity challenges, including threats to our IT infrastructure or those of our customers or third-party providers, are often targeted at companies such as ours, and may take a variety of forms ranging from malware, phishing, ransomware, man-in-the-middle attacks, session hijacking, denial-of-service, password attacks, viruses, worms and other malicious software programs or cybersecurity attacks to “mega breaches” targeted against hosted software and cloud based IT services. A cybersecurity incident or breach could result in disclosure of confidential information and intellectual property, or cause production downtimes and compromised data. Because cybersecurity attacks and techniques change frequently, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures. Any or all of these issues could negatively affect our ability to attract new customers, cause existing customers to elect to terminate their business with us or switch their business to a competitor, result in reputational damage, cause us to pay remediation costs or issue service credits or refunds to customers for improper bets or false claims of improper bets, or result in lawsuits, regulatory fines or other action or liabilities, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Many states in the United States as well as foreign governments have enacted laws requiring companies to provide notice of data security breaches involving certain types of personal data, and significant fines on companies involved in such incidents may be imposed. In addition, some of our regulators and certifying agents contractually require notification of data security breaches. Security compromises experienced by us or by our competitors may lead to public disclosures, which may lead to widespread negative publicity. Any security compromise in our industry, whether actual or perceived, could harm our reputation, erode customer confidence in the effectiveness of our security measures, negatively impact our ability to attract new clients, cause existing clients to switch to a competing betting software provider, or subject us to third-party lawsuits, regulatory fines or other action or liability, which could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.
Privacy concerns and domestic or foreign privacy laws or regulations may result in significant costs and compliance challenges, reduce demand for our solutions, and adversely affect our business.
Our clients can use our Platform to collect, use and store certain personal data regarding their agents, employees, players/customers and suppliers. National and local governments, agencies, and authorities in the countries in which we and our clients operate have adopted or may adopt laws and regulations regarding the collection, use, storage, processing and disclosure of personal data obtained from consumers and individuals, which could impact our ability to offer our solutions in certain jurisdictions or our customers’ ability to deploy our solutions globally. Privacy-related laws are particularly stringent in Europe. If we or our third-party sub-processors fail to adequately comply with privacy-related laws, regulations and standards, it may limit the use and adoption of our solutions, reduce overall demand for our solutions, lead to significant fines, penalties or liabilities for noncompliance, or slow the pace at which we close sales transactions, any of which could harm our business. Moreover, if we or our third-party sub-processors fail to adhere to adequate data protection practices around the usage of our clients’ personal data, it may damage our reputation and brand.
In 2016 the EU adopted a new regulation governing data privacy called the General Data Protection Regulation, or the GDPR, which became effective on May 25, 2018. The GDPR establishes requirements applicable to the handling of personal data and imposes penalties for non-compliance of up to four percent of worldwide annual handle or 20 million euro, whichever is higher. Customers, particularly in the EU, are seeking assurances from their suppliers, including us, that the processing of personal data of EU nationals is in accordance with the GDPR, and if we are unable to provide adequate assurances to such customers, demand for our solutions and our business could be adversely affected. In addition, we must continue to seek assurances from our third-party sub-processors that they are handling personal data in accordance with GDPR requirements in order to meet our own obligations under the GDPR. Compliance with privacy laws and regulations, particularly the GDPR, that are applicable to our business and the businesses of our clients is costly and time-consuming. Such laws and regulations may adversely affect our clients’ ability and willingness to process, handle, store, use and transmit personal data of their employees, players/customers and suppliers, which in turn could limit the use, effectiveness and adoption of our solutions and reduce overall demand. Even the perception of privacy concerns, whether or not valid, may inhibit the adoption, effectiveness or use of our betting Platform. Future laws, regulations, standards and other obligations, and changes in the interpretation of existing laws, including challenges to onward transfer mechanisms such as Privacy Shield and model contractual clauses, regulations, standards and other obligations could result in increased regulation, increased costs of compliance and penalties for non-compliance, as well as limitations on data collection, use, disclosure and transfer for us and our clients.
In addition, the other bases on which we and our clients rely for the transfer of data, such as certain contractual clauses, continue to be subjected to regulatory and judicial scrutiny. If we or our clients are unable to transfer data between and among countries and regions in which we operate, it could decrease demand for our betting software solutions, require us to restrict our business operations, and impair our ability to maintain and grow our client base, expand geographically and increase our revenues.
If we are unable to maintain successful relationships with retail agents, partners, our business, operating results, and financial condition could be adversely affected.
We have historically relied on retail agents, affiliates and partners, such as referral partners, resellers, and integration partners (collectively “partners”), to attract new clients and sell additional services to our existing clients and players. Our agreements with our partners are generally non-exclusive and some of our partners have entered, and may continue to enter, into strategic relationships with our competitors. Further, many of our partners have multiple strategic relationships, and they may not regard us as to be of significant importance for their businesses. Our partners may terminate their respective relationships with us with limited or no notice and with limited or no penalty, pursue other partnerships or relationships, or attempt to develop or acquire products or services that compete with our Platform. We may also terminate our relationships with partners who choose to work with our competitors or for other reasons. Moreover, we may have difficulty attracting effective partners to sell our Platform to other clients and players, particularly given our smaller size relative to larger franchise and well-established betting operators. If we are not able to maintain and grow our partner relationships, our business could be adversely affected.
Our partners also may impair our ability to enter into other desirable strategic relationships. If our partners do not effectively market and sell our betting products and Platform solution, if they choose to place greater emphasis on products of their own or those offered by our competitors, or if they fail to meet the needs of our clients and players, our ability to sell our Platform and our business may be adversely affected. Similarly, the loss of a substantial number of our partners, and our possible inability to replace them, the failure to recruit additional partners, any reduction or delay in their sales of our betting Platform, or any conflicts between partner sales and our direct sales and marketing activities could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
If we fail or are unable to protect our intellectual property effectively, we may be unable to prevent third parties from using our technologies, which would impair our competitive advantage, proprietary technology and our brand.
Our success is dependent, in part, upon protecting our proprietary technology which supports our betting Platform and other operations. We rely on a combination of proprietary programming and source codes, copyright, trademarks, service marks, trade secret laws and contractual provisions in an effort to establish and protect our proprietary rights. However, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property may be inadequate. We will not be able to protect our intellectual property if we are unable to enforce our rights or if we do not detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property. Any of our trademarks or other intellectual property rights may be challenged by others or invalidated through administrative process or litigation. We do not have any patent applications pending anywhere we operate and may not be able to obtain patent protection for the technology covered in any future patent applications should we enter such applications. In addition, any patents, if any, that are issued to us in the future may not provide us with competitive advantages or may be successfully challenged by third parties. Legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights are uncertain. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy our solutions and use information that we regard as proprietary to create products and services that compete with ours. Some license provisions protecting against unauthorized use, copying, transfer and disclosure of our technology may be unenforceable under the laws of jurisdictions outside the United States. In addition, the laws ofin some countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. To the extent we expand our international activities, our exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our solutions and proprietary information may increase.
Although we enter into confidentiality agreements with the parties with whom we have strategic relationships and business alliances, we do not currently enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with all of our employees and consultants and as a result, our business may be harmed. No assurance can be given that the agreements we enter into will be effective in controlling access to and distribution of our solutions and proprietary information. Further, these agreements do not prevent our competitors or partners from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our solutions.
In order to protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect these rights. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights and to protect our trade secrets. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time consuming and distracting to management and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Our inability to protect our proprietary technology against unauthorized copying or use, as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management’s attention and resources, could delay further sales or the implementation of our solutions, impair the functionality of our solutions, delay introductions of new solutions, result in our substituting inferior or more costly technologies into our solutions, or harm our business and reputation. In addition, we may be required to license additional technology from third parties to develop and market new solutions, and we cannot assure you that we would be able to license that technology on commercially reasonable terms or at all from them. Any inability to license third party technology in the future would have a material adverse effect on our business or operating results and would adversely affect our ability to compete.
We have experienced rapid growth and organizational change in recent periods and if we fail to manage our growth effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan.
We increased our number of full-time and part-time employees from 15 as of August 15, 2014 to 58 as of July 15, 2020 as we have expanded our operations, completed additional business acquisitions and experienced growth in number of customers and operators. Our growth has placed, and may continue to place, a significant strain on our managerial, administrative, operational, financial and other resources. We intend to further expand our headcount and operations both domestically and internationally, with no assurance that our business or revenue will continue to grow. Continuing to create a global organization and managing a geographically dispersedand culturally diverse workforce will require substantial management effort, the allocation of valuable management resources and significant additional investment in our infrastructure. We will be requiredcustomer base. Failure to continually improve our operational, financial and management controls and our reporting procedures and we may not be able to do so effectively, which could negatively affect our results of operations and overall business. In addition, we may be unable to manage our expenses effectively in the future, which may negatively impact our gross margins or operating expenses in any particular quarter. Moreover, if we fail to manage our anticipated growth and change in a manner that preserves the key aspects of our corporate culture, the quality of our software solutions may suffer, which could negatively affect our brand and reputation and harm our ability to retain and attract customers.
We may not be able to successfully scale our technology and manage the growth of our business if we are unable to improve our internal systems, processes and controls.
We need to continue to improve our internal systems, processes and controls to effectively manage our operations and growth. We may not be able to successfully implement and scale improvements to our systems and processes in a timely or efficient manner or in a manner that does not negatively affect our operating results. In addition, our systems and processes may not prevent or detect all errors, omissions or fraud. We have licensed technology from third parties to help us improve our internal systems, processes and controls. The support services available for such third-party technology may be negatively affected by mergers and consolidation in the software industry, and support services for such technology may not be available to us in the future. We may experience difficulties in managing improvements to our systems, processes and controls or in connection with third-party software, which could impair our ability to provide our solutions or professional services to our customers in a timely manner, causing us to lose customers, limit us to smaller deployments of our solutions or increase our technical support costs.
Our estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth included in this registration statement may prove to be inaccurate, and even if the market in which we compete achieves the forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.
Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts, are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate. Not all geographic or regional metrics covered by our market opportunity estimates will necessarily implement regulated or online gaming at all, and in some cases many potential customers and operators may choose to continue using their existing betting platform provider, or choose a solution offered by our competitors. It is impossible to build every product feature that every customer wants, and our competitors may develop and offer features that our solutions do not offer. The variables that go into the calculation of our market opportunity are subject to change over time, and there is no guarantee that any particular number or percentage of customers covered by our market opportunity estimates will purchase our solutions at all or generate any particular level of revenues for us. Even if the market in which we compete meets the size estimates and growth forecasted in this registration statement, our business could fail to grow for a variety of reasons outside of our control, including competition in our industry. Furthermore, we have historically focused our selling and marketing efforts in regulated markets in Europe, specifically Italy. In order for us to successfully address the broader market opportunity, we will need to successfully market and sell our betting Platform to larger enterprise customers and also further expand our international presence. Ifovercome any of these risks materialize, itchallenges could adversely affect our results of operations.
Our research and development efforts are costly and subject to international risks and may not contribute significantly to revenues for several years, if at all.
In order to remain competitive, we must continue to invest in research and development. During the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, we spent approximately $410,000 and $415,000 for research and development. We have made and expect to continue to make significant investments in development and related opportunities, such as our acquisition of VG, and these investments could adversely affect our operating results if not offset by increases in revenues. However, we may not receive significant revenue from these investments for several years, if at all.
Further, our competitors may expend a greater amount of funds on their research and development programs. Our failure to maintain adequate research and development resources or to compete effectively with the research and development programs of our competitors could materially and adverselynegatively affect our business and results of operations.
If we failWe face exposure to manageforeign currency exchange rate fluctuations that have recently harmed our technicalresults of operations infrastructure,and could in the future harm our customers may experience service outages and delays, which may adversely affect our business.results of operations.
We derive significant revenue fromconduct transactions, including intercompany transactions, in currencies other than the useU.S. dollar. As we grow our international operations, we expect the amount of our websites and Platform. In the past, we have experienced significant growthrevenues denominated in foreign currencies to increase. Accordingly, changes in the numbervalue of users, transactionsforeign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar could affect our reported revenues and dataoperating results due to transactional and translational re-measurements that our operations infrastructure supports. We seek to maintain sufficient excess capacityare reflected in our operations infrastructureresults of operations. As a result of such foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, it could be more difficult to meet the needs of all ofdetect underlying trends in our customers. We also seek to maintain excess capacity to facilitate the rapid provision of new customer deployments and the expansion of existing customer deployments. In addition, we need to properly manage our technological operations infrastructure in order to support version control, changes in hardware and software parameters and the evolution of our Platform. As we transition to larger infrastructure and pursue geographic expansion, we may experience interruptions, delays and outages in service and availability, and we expect our gross gaming margin to decline modestly in the near term reflecting the costs of this transition.
We have experienced, and may in the future experience, website disruptions, outages and other performance problems. These problems may be caused by a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, vendor issues, human or software errors, viruses, security attacks, fraud, general Internet availability issues, spikes in customer usage and denial of service issues. In some instances, we may not be able to identify the cause or causes of these performance problems within an acceptable period of time. If we do not accurately predict our infrastructure requirements, our existing customers may experience service outages that may subject us to financial penalties, financial liabilities and customer losses. If our operations infrastructure fails to keep pace with increased sales, customers may experience delays as we seek to obtain additional capacity, which could adversely affect our reputation, business and results of operations. In addition, to the extent that fluctuations in currency exchange rates cause our results of operations to differ from our expectations or the expectations of our investors, the trading price of our common stock could be adversely affected.
We do not currently maintain a program to hedge transactional exposures in foreign currencies. However, in the future, we may use derivative instruments, such as foreign currency forward and option contracts, to hedge exposures to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. The use of such hedging activities may not offset any or more than a portion of the adverse financial effects of unfavorable movements in foreign exchange rates over the limited time the hedges are in place. Moreover, the use of hedging instruments may introduce additional risks if we are unable to structure effective hedges with such instruments.
Risks Related to Ownership of our Securities
We may not have exclusive control over the distribution of cash from any operators that we may acquire in the future and may be unable to cause all or a portion of the cash of such operators to be distributed to us.
We anticipate having a complete or a majority ownership in the operators we may acquire in the future. We expect any future agreements we execute with such operators will provide for the distribution of available cash to us. However, it is possible that these agreements may impose limits on the ability of our acquired operators to make distributions of cash to us. If we are unable to cause sufficient cash to be distributed from one or more of the operators we may acquire in the future, our ability to pay our obligations as they become due may be harmed.
If we acquire an operator that has made submission and reporting errors prior to our acquisition, we may be liable for such errors that which may have a material adverse effect on our business.
Historical submissions and reporting errors in gaming accounts made by an operator we may acquire in the future, may require us to provide refunds to customers and may also subject us to civil penalties, which involve monetary damages. If operators we may acquire in the future overpaid their obligation, it is unlikely that we would be able to collect funds that were owed to the operator prior to our acquisition. There can be no assurance that a compliance audit will disclose any future liabilities for underpayments or overpayments that any of our operators may have incurred.
If any executive officers or key personnel of operators we may acquire are unable to assist with the transition of operations and customers, our business may be adversely affected.
In connection with any potential acquisition of operators, we believe that it is necessary and desirable to retain the services of executive officers and key personnel of such operators to assist with the transition and integration of operations and customers into our existing operations; however, no assurances can be given that such executive officers and key personnel will be willing and able to assist us with such transition and integration. In the event that such executive officers and key personnel are unable to assist us after the consummation of the future acquisition of an operator, we may need to hire additional personnel to assist with the transaction, which new personnel may not be readily available to us or on acceptable terms.
Any violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or any other similar anti-corruption laws could have a negative impact on us.
Our revenue is derived from operations outside the United States, which exposes us to complex foreign and U.S. regulations inherent in doing cross-border business and in each of the countries in which we transact business. We are subject to compliance with the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and other similar anti-corruption laws, which generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. While our employees and agents are required to comply with these laws, we cannot be sure that our internal policies and procedures will always protect us from violations of these laws, despite our commitment to legal compliance and corporate ethics. Violations of these laws may result in severe criminal and civil sanctions as well as other penalties, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and U.S. Department of Justice have increased their enforcement activities with respect to the FCPA. Violations or allegations of non-compliance with any such laws or regulations may adversely affect our business, performance, prospects, value, financial condition, and results of operations.
War, terrorism, other acts of violence or natural or manmade disasters may affect the markets in which we operate, our customers, our delivery of software and customer service, and could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
Our business may be adversely affected by instability, disruption or destruction in a geographic region in which we operate, regardless of cause, including war, terrorism, riot, civil insurrection or social unrest, and natural or manmade disasters, including famine, flood, fire, earthquake, storm or pandemic events and spread of disease. Such events may cause customers to suspend their decisions on using our products and services, make it impossible for our customers to visit our physical locations, cause restrictions, postponements and cancellations of sports events that attract large crowds and public gatherings, and give rise to sudden significant changes in regional and global economic conditions and cycles. These events also pose significant risks to our personnel and to physical facilities and operations, which could materially adversely affect our financial results.
We expect to continue relying on our discretionary available cash and bank credit to fund our additional acquisitions or into new business opportunities that may not be available at reasonable terms, if at all.
We have recently initiated an ambitious investment strategy including taking steps to enter the U.S. market which has led to an increase in expenses. Our ability to execute our growth plan is dependent upon our ability to generate profits from operations in the future, bank credit facilities and/or our ability to obtain additional financing and such financing may not be available on reasonable terms, if at all.
Our failure to meet the continued listing requirements offor the Nasdaq CapitalStock Market. If our common stock is delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market, our stock price could result in a de-listingbe adversely affected and the liquidity of our common stock.stock and our ability to obtain financing could be impaired.
Our shares of common stock areis currently listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. If we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of theThe Nasdaq Capital Market, such as the corporate governance requirements, filing annual and quarterly reports with the SEC on a timely basis, minimum bid price requirement or the minimum stockholder’s equity requirement, theThe Nasdaq Capital Market may take steps to de-list our common stock. Any such stepsOn July 25, 2022, we received a Nasdaq Staff Determination letter notifying us that for de-listing would likelythe preceding 30 consecutive business days we were not in compliance with the requirement that our common stock maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share.
We have until January 23, 2023 to comply with the $1.00 per share minimum bid price requirement. To remain listed, our common stock must have a negative effect onclosing bid price of at least $1.00 per share for ten consecutive business days prior to January 23, 2023. We intend to actively monitor the bid price of our common stock and will consider available options to regain compliance with the Nasdaq listing requirements.
If we do not achieve compliance with the $1.00 per share minimum bid price requirement, the Nasdaq Staff would be required to issue us a delisting notice. We would have the opportunity to appeal a delisting notice to a Nasdaq Hearings Panel, which would delay any delisting until at least the date of the hearing. The Nasdaq Hearings Panel has discretion to grant an exception for up to 180 days after the initial delisting determination but it is not required to do so and may order a lesser exception period or order an immediate delisting. We may also fail to satisfy other Nasdaq continued listing requirements in the future.
Any delisting of our common stock by Nasdaq could adversely affect our ability to attract new investors, impair stockholders’ ability to sell or purchase their common stock when they wish to do so. There can be noso, decrease the liquidity of the outstanding shares of common stock, reduce the price at which such shares trade and increase the transaction costs inherent in trading such shares with overall negative effects for our shareholders. In addition, delisting of the common stock could deter broker-dealers from making a market in or otherwise seeking or generating interest in our common stock, and might deter certain institutions and persons from investing in our stock at all.
No assurance can be given that we will be able to satisfy our continued listing requirements and maintain the listing of our common stock on theThe Nasdaq Capital Market.
Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A)(iii) (the “$0.10 Rule”), our common stock may be subject to immediate delisting from Nasdaq if our common stock has a closing bid price of $0.10 or less for any ten (10) consecutive trading days. In the event that we are in violation of the $0.10 Rule, Nasdaq will issue a Staff Delisting Determination with the potential opportunity for us to appeal that determination.
There can be no assurances that we will be able to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement nor can there be assurances that we will maintain compliance with the $0.10 Rule, particularly if the price of our common stock declines as a result of this offering. If we are unable to regain or maintain compliance with these Nasdaq requirements, our common stock will be delisted from Nasdaq.
Our stock price has fluctuated in the past, has recently been volatile and may be volatile in the future, and as a result, investors in our common stock could incur substantial losses.
Our stock price has fluctuated in the past, has recently been volatile and may be volatile in the future. Our closing share price on January 4, 2021 was $5.38 with a high closing price of $7.21 and a closing share price on December 31, 2021 of $2.72 and a closing share price on November 11, 2022 of $0.29. These fluctuations do not appear to be based on any business fundamentals. We may incur rapid and substantial decreases in our stock price in the foreseeable future that are unrelated to our operating performance or prospects. In addition, the recent outbreak of war in the Ukraine has caused broad stock market and industry fluctuations. The stock market generally and the market for gaming companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. As a result of this volatility, investors may experience losses on their investment in our common stock. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including the following:
· | sale of our common stock by our stockholders, executives, and directors; | |
· | volatility and limitations in trading volumes of our securities; | |
· | our ability to obtain financings to implement our business plans, including the acquisitions of operators; | |
· | the timing and success of introductions of new products by us or our competitors or any other change in the competitive dynamics of our industry, including consolidation among competitors; | |
· | our ability to attract new customers; | |
· | the continued impact of COVID-19; | |
· | changes in our capital structure or dividend policy, future issuances of securities and sales of large blocks of securities by our stockholders; | |
· | our cash position; | |
· | announcements and events surrounding financing efforts, including debt and equity securities; | |
· | our inability to enter into new markets or develop new products; | |
· | reputational issues; | |
· | our inability to successfully manage our business or achieve profitability; | |
· | announcements of acquisitions, partnerships, collaborations, joint ventures, new products, capital commitments, or other events by us or our competitors; | |
· | changes in general economic, political and market conditions in any of the regions in which we conduct our business; | |
· | changes in industry conditions or perceptions; | |
· | analyst research reports, recommendation and changes in recommendations, price targets, and withdrawals of coverage; | |
· | departures and additions of key personnel; | |
· | disputes and litigation related to intellectual properties, proprietary rights, and contractual obligations; | |
· | changes in applicable laws, rules, regulations, or accounting practices and other dynamics; | |
· | market conditions or trends in the gaming industry; and | |
· | other events or factors, many of which may be out of our control. |
These broad market and industry factors may seriously harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. Since the stock price of our common stock has fluctuated in the past, has been recently volatile and may be volatile in the future, investors in our common stock could incur substantial losses. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market, securities class-action litigation has often been instituted against companies. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. There can be no guarantee that our stock price will remain at current prices or that future sales of our common stock will not be at prices lower than those sold to investors.
Additionally, recently, securities of certain companies have experienced significant and extreme volatility in stock price due to short sellers need to purchase shares of common stock, known as a “short squeeze.” These short squeezes have caused extreme volatility in the common stock price of those companies and in the market and have led to the price per share of common stock of those companies trading at a significantly inflated price that is disconnected from the underlying value of the company. Many investors who have purchased shares of common stock in those companies at an inflated price face the risk of losing a significant portion of their original investment as the price per share has declined steadily as interest in those stocks has abated. While we have no reason to believe our shares of common stock would be the target of a short squeeze, there can be no assurance that we will not be in the future, and you may lose a significant portion or all of your investment if you purchase our shares of common stock at a rate that is significantly disconnected from our underlying value.
Future sales of shares of our common stock or the perception in the public markets that these sales may occur, may depress our stock price.
The market price of our common stock could decline significantly as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock in the market. In addition, if our significant stockholders sell a large number of shares, or if our warrant holders exercise their warrants and sell the underlying shares or if we issue a large number of shares, the market price of our common stock could decline. Any issuance of additional common stock, or common stock equivalents by us would result in dilution to our existing shareholders. Such issuances could be made at a price that reflects a discount to the then-current trading price of our common stock. Moreover, the perception in the public market that stockholders may sell shares of our stock or that we may issue additional shares of common stock could depress the market for our shares. and make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities at any time in the future if at all.
We may issue additional shares of common stock and preferred stock without stockholder approval, which would dilute the current holders of our common stock. In addition, the exercise or conversion of currently outstanding securities would further dilute holders of our common stock.
Our Board of Directors has authority, without action or vote of our shareholders, to issue shares of common and preferred stock. We may issue shares of our common stock or preferred stock to complete a business combination or to raise capital. Such stock issuances could be made at a price that reflects a discount from the then-current trading price of our common stock. These issuances would dilute our stockholders’ ownership interest, which among other things would have the effect of reducing their influence on matters on which our stockholders vote. In addition, our stockholders and prospective investors may incur additional dilution if holders of stock options and warrants, whether currently outstanding or subsequently granted, exercise their options or warrants to purchase shares of our common stock or if our convertible debt holders convert their debt.
The rights of the holders of our common stock may be impaired by the potential issuance of preferred stock.
Our certificate of incorporation gives our Board of Directors the right to create one or more new series of preferred stock. As a result, the Board may, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting, dividend, conversion, liquidation or other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and equity interests of the holders of our common stock, preferred stock, which could be issued with the right to more than one vote per share, would dilute the rights of our common stockholders and could be used to discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company, which could materially adversely affect the price of our common stock.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports, or publish unfavorable research or reports about our business, our stock price and trading volume may decline.
The trading market for our common stock will rely in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us, our business, our markets and our competitors. We currently have limited analyst coverage. If securities analysts do not cover our common stock, the lack of research coverage may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Furthermore, if we should have analyst coverage and one or more of the analysts who do cover us downgrade our stock or if those analysts issue other unfavorable commentary about us or our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fails to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the market and interest in our stock could decrease, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline and may also impair our ability to expand our business with existing customers and attract new customers.
Because certain of our stockholders control a significant number of shares of our common stock, they may have effective control over actions requiring stockholder approval.
Gilda Pia Ciavarella, the spouse of our Executive Chairman of the Board is the beneficial owner of 4,728,478 shares of our common stock and therefore our Executive Chairman is deemed to beneficially own approximately 19.9% of our outstanding shares common stock on a fully diluted basis as of the date of the filing of this prospectus. As a result, Ms. Ciavarella, has the ability to effectively control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets and the ability to control the management and affairs of our company. In addition, other members of our senior management team beneficially own 2.8% of our outstanding shares of common stock on a fully diluted basis as of the date of the filing of this prospectus. Accordingly, this concentration of ownership might harm the market price of our common stock by:
· | delaying, deferring or preventing a change in corporate control; | |
· | impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us; or | |
· | discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us. |
Delaware law and our corporate charter and bylaws contain anti-takeover provisions that could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of our company. For example, our Board of Directors has the authority to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the powers, preferences and rights of each series without stockholder approval. The ability to issue preferred stock could discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or make it more difficult for a third party to gain control of our company, or otherwise could materially adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Furthermore, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. This provision may prohibit or restrict large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, from merging or combining with us, which could discourage potential takeover attempts, reduce the price that investors may be willing to pay for shares of our common stock in the future and result in our market price being lower than it would be without these provisions.
Our certificate of incorporation has an exclusive forum for adjudication of disputes provision which limits the forum to the Delaware Court of Chancery for certain actions against the Company.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that the Delaware Court of Chancery, to the fullest extent permitted by law, is the sole and exclusive forum for certain actions including claims in the right of our company brought by a stockholder that are based upon a violation of a duty by a current or former director or officer or stockholder in such capacity or as to which the Delaware corporate law confers jurisdiction upon the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware.
A Delaware corporation is allowed to mandate in its corporate governance documents a chosen forum for the resolution of state law-based shareholder class actions, derivative suits and other intra-corporate disputes. Our management believes limiting state law-based claims to Delaware mitigate against the potential risk of another forum misapplying Delaware law is avoided. In addition, Delaware courts have a well-developed body of case law and we believe limiting the forum for the adjudication of any disputes will prevent costly and duplicative litigation and avoid the risk of inconsistent outcomes. Our Bylaws limit any shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a forum it believes is favorable to shareholders in disputes with directors, officers or other employees.
The exclusive forum provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or other federal securities laws for which there is exclusive federal or concurrent federal and state jurisdiction. To the extent that any such claims may be based upon federal law claims, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Although our certificate contains the choice of forum provision described above, it is possible that a court could rule that such a provision is inapplicable for a particular claim or action or that such provision is unenforceable. Investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
This provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with the Company or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders, which may discourage such lawsuits against the Company and our directors, officers, employees or stockholders. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our shares of common stock so any returns will be limited to the value of our shares.
We currently anticipate that we will retain any future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
An active trading market for our common stock may not be maintained, or we may fail to satisfy applicable Nasdaq Capital Market listing requirements.
Our common stock is currently traded on Nasdaq Capital Market, but we can provide no assurance that we will be able to maintain an active trading market for our shares on Nasdaq Capital Market or any other exchange in the future. The fact that a significant portion of our outstanding shares of common stock is closely held by a few individuals, results in it being more difficult for us to maintain an active trading market. If there is no active market for our common stock, it may be difficult for our stockholders to sell shares without depressing the market price for the shares or at all, our stock price could decline, and we may be unable to maintain compliance with applicable Nasdaq Capital Market listing requirements.
The warrants that we issued in our prior offerings are speculative in nature and have certain provisions that could deter an acquisition of our company.
The warrants that we issued in our prior offerings do not confer any rights of common stock ownership on their holders, such as voting rights or the right to receive dividends, but rather merely represent the right to acquire shares of common stock at a fixed price, subject to certain adjustments. Moreover, the market value of such warrants is uncertain and there can be no assurance that the market value of the warrants will equal or exceed their exercise price. Furthermore, the warrants issued in our 2020 public offering will expire five years from the original issuance date. In the event our common stock price does not exceed the exercise price of such warrants during the period when such warrants are exercisable, such warrants may not have any value.
In addition to the provisions of our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws, certain provisions of the warrants we have issued in our 2020 public offering and our 2020 registered direct offering could make it more difficult or expensive for a third party to acquire us. The warrants issued in our 2020 public offering and our 2020 registered direct offering prohibit us from engaging in certain transactions constituting “fundamental transactions” unless, among other things, the surviving entity assumes our obligations under such warrants. These and other provisions of the warrants could prevent or deter a third party from acquiring us even where the acquisition could be beneficial to you.
Risks Related to this Offering
This is a best efforts offering, no minimum amount of securities is required to be sold, and we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our business plans.
The placement agent has agreed to use its reasonable best efforts to solicit offers to purchase the securities being offered in this offering. The placement agent has no obligation to buy any of the securities from us or to arrange for the purchase or sale of any specific number or dollar amount of the securities. There is no required minimum number of securities or amount of proceeds that must be sold as a condition to completion of this offering. Because there is no minimum offering amount required as a condition to the closing of this offering, the actual offering amount, placement agent fees and proceeds to us are not presently determinable and may be substantially less than the maximum amounts set forth above. We may sell fewer than all of the securities offered hereby, which may significantly reduce the amount of proceeds received by us, and investors in this offering will not receive a refund in the event that we do not sell an amount of securities sufficient to fund for our operations as described in the “Use of Proceeds” section herein. Thus, we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our operations in the short-term and may need to raise additional funds, which may not be available or available on terms acceptable to us.
You will be unable to exercise the Series B warrants and they may have no value under certain circumstances.
We will not have authorized shares available to permit exercise of the Series B warrants and such warrants will not be exercisable if we do not obtain stockholder approval to either increase the number of authorized shares of common stock or effect a reverse stock split, in either case in an amount sufficient to permit exercise in full of the Series B warrants. If we are unable to obtain such approval, the Series B warrants will have no value. In no event may the Series B warrants be net cash settled.
Management will have broad discretion with respect to the use of the proceeds from this offering.
Our management will have broad discretion as to the application of the net proceeds from this offering and could use them for purposes other than those contemplated at the time of the offering. Our stockholders may not agree with the manner in which our management chooses to allocate and spend the net proceeds. It is possible that our management may use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes that may not improve our financial condition or market value.
There is no public market for the units, pre-funded units, common warrants or pre-funded warrants.
There is no established public trading market for the units, pre-funded units, common warrants or pre-funded warrants offered hereby, and we do not expect a market to develop. In addition, we do not intend to apply to list the units, pre-funded units, common warrants or pre-funded warrants on any national securities exchange or other nationally recognized trading system, including the Nasdaq Capital Market. Without an active market, the liquidity of those securities will be limited.
The warrants in this offering are speculative in nature.
Following this offering, the market value of the common warrants, if any, is uncertain and there can be no assurance that the market value of the common warrants will equal or exceed their imputed public offering price. In the event that our common stock price does not exceed the exercise price of the common warrants during the period when such common warrants are exercisable, such warrants may not have any value. Furthermore, each common warrant will expire five years from its initial exercise date.
Holders of the common warrants and pre-funded warrants will not have rights of holders of our shares of common stock until such common warrants and pre-funded warrants are exercised.
The common warrants and pre-funded warrants in this offering do not confer any rights of share ownership on their holders, but rather merely represent the right to acquire shares of our common stock at a fixed price. Until holders of common warrants and pre-funded warrants acquire shares of our common stock upon exercise of the common warrants and pre-funded warrants, as applicable, holders of common warrants and pre-funded warrants will have no rights with respect to our shares of common stock underlying such common warrants and pre-funded warrants
We may not receive any additional funds upon the exercise of the common warrants or pre-funded warrants.
The common warrants and pre-funded warrants provide that if we do not maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the common warrants and pre-funded warrants, they may be exercised by way of a cashless exercise, meaning that the holder may not pay a cash purchase price upon exercise, but instead would receive upon such exercise the net number of shares of our common stock determined according to the formula set forth in the common warrants and pre-funded warrants. Accordingly, we may not receive any additional funds upon the exercise of the common warrants or pre-funded warrants.
Provisions of the common warrants could result in a cash payment in the event of a fundamental transaction.
Certain provisions of the common warrants issued by us could make it more difficult or expensive for a third party to acquire us. The common warrants prohibit us from engaging in certain transactions constituting “fundamental transactions” unless, among other things, the surviving entity assumes our obligations under the warrants. Further, the common warrants provide that, in the event of certain transactions constituting “fundamental transactions,” with some exception, holders of such common warrants will have the right, at their option, to require us to repurchase such common warrants at a designated price.
This is a best efforts offering, no minimum amount of securities is required to be sold, and we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our business plans.
The placement agent has agreed to use its reasonable best efforts to solicit offers to purchase the securities being offered in this offering. The placement agent has no obligation to buy any of the securities from us or to arrange for the purchase or sale of any specific number or dollar amount of the securities. There is no required minimum number of securities or amount of proceeds that must be sold as a condition to completion of this offering. Because there is no minimum offering amount required as a condition to the closing of this offering, the actual offering amount, placement agent fees and proceeds to us are not presently determinable and may be substantially less than the maximum amounts set forth above. We may sell fewer than all of the securities offered hereby, which may significantly reduce the amount of proceeds received by us, and investors in this offering will not receive a refund in the event that we do not sell an amount of securities sufficient to fund for our operations as described in the “Use of Proceeds” section herein. Thus, we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our operations in the short-term and may need to raise additional funds, which may not be available or available on terms acceptable to us.
You will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the net tangible book value per share of the common stock included in the units in this offering and may experience additional dilution of your investment in the future.
The effective price per share of common stock included in the units or issuable upon exercise of the common warrants is substantially higher than the net tangible book value per share of our common stock outstanding prior to this offering. Based on the assumed public offering price of $0.1592 per unit (the last reported sale price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on December 6, 2022) and assuming the sale of 100% of the units offered and no sale of any pre-funded units, being sold in this offering, and our net tangible book value per share as of September 30, 2022, if you purchase units in this offering, you will suffer immediate and substantial dilution of $0.3490 per share, with respect to the net tangible book value of the common stock Furthermore, if outstanding options or warrants are exercised or the warrants sold in this offering are exercised, you could experience further dilution. See the section titled “Dilution” below for a more detailed discussion of the dilution you will incur if you purchase units in this offering. Further, because we may need to raise additional capital to fund our anticipated level of operations, we may in the future sell substantial amounts of common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for common stock. These future issuances of equity or equity-linked securities, together with the exercise outstanding options or warrants and/or any additional shares issued in connection with acquisitions, if any, will likely result in further dilution to investors.
Risks Related to Our Industry
Economic conditions, particularly in Italy and Europe, that have an adverse effect on the gaming industry may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Our business operations are currently concentrated in a single industry and largely in one geographic area (Italy) that is affected by international, national and local economic conditions. A downturn in the overall economy or economy in a specific region such as Italy or a reduction in demand for gaming in such area, may have an adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. We cannot predict the effect or duration of an economic slowdown in Italy or in the gaming industry, or the impact such slowdown may have on the demand for our leisure gaming products and services. If economic conditions deteriorate our consumers will have less disposable income to spend on wagers and our business may be adversely affected.
Intense competition in the leisure gaming industry may adversely affect our revenue and profitability.
We operate in a highly competitive environment and we compete for operators, customers and advertisers with numerous well-established leisure gaming operators, as well as numerous smaller and newer gaming website operators. Many of our principal competitors have substantially longer operating histories, greater financial, technical, marketing or other resources, stronger brand and customer recognition, larger intellectual property portfolios and broader global distribution and presence than we have. Our competitors may be able to offer products or functionality similar to ours at a more attractive price than we can by integrating or bundling such products with their other product offerings or may develop new technologies or services that are more attractive to other operators or our customers. Acquisitions and consolidation in our industry may provide our competitors with even more resources or may increase the likelihood of our competitors offering bundled or integrated products with which we cannot effectively compete. New innovative start-ups and existing large companies that are making significant investments in research and development could also launch new products and services that are competitive with ours and that could gain market acceptance quickly. In addition, we face potential competition from participants in adjacent markets that may enter our markets by leveraging related technologies and partnering with or acquiring other companies or providing alternative approaches to provide similar results. We also face competition for employees with the necessary technical skills.
With the introduction of new technologies, the evolution of our Platform and new market entrants, we expect competition to intensify in the future. Increased competition generally could result in reduced sales, reduced margins, losses or the failure of our Platform to achieve or maintain more widespread market acceptance, any of which could harm our business.
We expect that competition from internet gaming will continue to grow and intensify in the United States.
We intend to expand the use of our Platform in the United States; however, that will be dependent upon changes in legislation and our ability to obtain licenses and other regulatory approvals and we expect that we will face increased competition from other leisure betting operators as the potential for legalized internet gaming continues to grow. Several states in the United States are currently considering legislation that would legalize internet gaming at the state level. As a result of the Justice Department’s (“DOJ”) December 2011 opinion concerning the applicability of the Wire Act to internet gaming, certain states including Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey have enacted legislation to authorize various forms of intrastate internet gaming. In addition, the recently revised DOJ opinion on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (“UIGEA”) and competition from internet lotteries and other internet wagering gaming services, which allow their customers to wager on a wide variety of sporting events and play Las Vegas-style casino games from home, could divert customers from our products and thus adversely affect our business. Such internet wagering services are likely to expand in future years and become more accessible to domestic customers as a result of initiatives in some states to consider legislation to legalize intrastate internet wagering. There have also been proposals that would specifically legalize internet gaming under federal law. If we are unable to execute our U.S. strategy, anticipate, react to or penetrate the U.S. market in a timely manner, our competitive position could weaken, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we could suffer penalties or be required to make significant changes to our operations. In addition, changes in laws and regulations with respect to the gaming industry, and the application or interpretation of existing laws and regulations applicable to our operations may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business is highly regulated, and we are subject to many laws and regulations at the federal, provincial and local government levels in the jurisdictions in which we operate. These laws and regulations require that our operators and our operations meet various licensing, certification and other requirements, including those relating to:
ownership of our operators; | ||
our and our operators’ relationships with sponsors and other referral sources; | ||
approvals and other regulations affecting the acquisition of operators, capital expenditures or the addition of services; | ||
qualifications of management and support personnel; | ||
maintenance and protection of records; | ||
billing for services by gaming product providers, including appropriate treatment of overpayments and credit balances; | ||
privacy and security of individually identifiable personal information; | ||
online gaming and gaming in general; | ||
commercial advertising; | ||
subscription rates; and | ||
foreign investments. |
Furthermore, the rules and regulations governing the gaming industry are evolving and subject to interpretation in the territories in which we operate and the territories in which we may operate in the future. Promulgation of new laws, changes in current laws, and changes in interpretations by courts and other government agencies of existing laws, may require us to modify or cease our operations. Compliance with changes in such laws and regulations may increase our operating expenses. In addition, our failure to comply with current or future laws and regulations may expose us to significant liabilities. Our inability or failure to comply with laws and regulations that govern the gaming industry in the territories in which we operate may result in the loss of our licenses which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions and results of operations.
Regulators at the federal and provincial level in Italy are monitoring and restricting the issuance and renewal of gaming licenses which could have an adverse effect on our growth.
Federal regulators in Italy are enforcing new restrictions to reduce the number of independent operators in the gaming industry, and a moratorium on new licenses for gaming operators in Italy has been implemented. The success of our business depends upon our ability to acquire operators in new regional locations throughout Italy. The restrictions on the licensing of new operators may make it more difficult for us to locate operators that we may be able to acquire. Our inability to acquire operators and expand our operations into new regional locations throughout Italy may have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
We might be required to acquire additional location rights under our licenses or acquire operators that have existing location rights under their licenses in order to remain in compliance with laws that are required to operate in Italy. Our inability to acquire such additional location rights or operators could result in an adverse effect on our operating results.
Rights to land-based licenses and online licenses are only distributed during infrequent license renewal auctions held by the ADM. Since June 30, 2016, the last renewal date that passed, the ADM has postponed the renewal auction and imposed a moratorium on the issuance of new sports betting licenses and the standardization of regulations in Italy. The outcome of ongoing proceedings in the European Court of Justice regarding the application of Italian regulations for wagering under the Intra-EU model remains pending. In the Interim, the ADM is delaying the Italian license renewal process. As such, the ADM has temporarily instituted operating authorizations for pre-2016 concessions that allow operators, including Multigioco to continue to operate until the next license renewal is announced and concluded. The outcome and duration of this process is presently unknown. No assurance can be provided that our gaming website and locations of any particular operator we have acquired or that we may acquire in the future will be permitted to operate or that we will be able to acquire additional operators and increase our client base.
Our records and submissions to regulatory agencies may contain inaccurate or unsupportable submissions which may result in an under or overstatement of our revenues and subject us to various penalties and may adversely affect our operations.
A major component of the regulatory environment is the interpretation of winnings and tax calculation procedures established by the ADM.US and Italian gaming regulators. Inaccurate or unsupportable submissions, inaccurate records for gaming coin-in or handle (turnover), client data and erroneous winning claims could result in inaccurate revenues being reported. Such errors are subject to correction or retroactive adjustment in later periods and may be reflected in financial statements for periods subsequent to the period in which the revenue was recorded. We may also be required to refund a portion of the revenue that we have received which, depending on its magnitude, may damage our reputation and relationship with regulatory agencies and may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or cash flows.
The ADM in Italy conducts weekly account audits and sweeps for taxes in addition to random onsite inspections for online connection to the ADM network as well as searches for nefarious programming or routers which can alter the reporting requirements of the ADM. It is possible that our acquired operators willAustrian operator, that did not hold a domestic Italian license and was operating under inter-European business principles, could receive letters from ADM auditors requesting the payment of fines for alleged violations and errors and aserrors. As such, we will incur expenses associated with responding to and appealing such requests, as well as the costs of paying any shortfalls in addition to the possible fines and penalties. Demands for payments can also occur even if an operator is acquired by means of an asset transfer. Our inability to dispute demands or pay requests for underpayments may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We may become the subject of Italian federal and provincial investigations in the future and our business may be adversely affected.
Both Italian federal and provincial government agencies have heightened and coordinated civil and criminal enforcement efforts as part of numerous ongoing investigations of gaming companies, as well as their executives and managers. These investigations relate to, among other things diversion practices if an agent or store owner were to disconnect (i.e., remove ethernet plug from internet) the betting terminal or PC from the ADM network.
In addition, we may employ executives and managers, some of whichwhom may have worked at other gaming companies that are or may become the subject of ADM investigations and private litigation. Such executives and managers may be included in governmental investigations or named as defendants in private litigation. A governmental investigation of us, our executives or our managers could divert our management’s attention, result in significant expenses, as well as negative publicity and adversely affect our business.
Our current operations are international in scope and we are planning further geographic expansion, creating a variety of potential operational challenges.
We currently have an office location in Canada, a satellitebusiness operations and office location in the United States and business operations and offices in Europe and intend to open additional offices in the United States and possibility other countries. If we expand in the future, our offices, personnel and operations may be further dispersed around the world. In connection with such expansion, we may face a number of challenges, including costs associated with developing software and providing support in additional languages, varying seasonality patterns, potential adverse movement of currency exchange rates, longer payment cycles and difficulties in collecting accounts receivable in some countries, tariffs and trade barriers, a variety of regulatory or contractual limitations on our ability to operate, adverse tax events, reduced protection of intellectual property rights in some countries and a geographically and culturally diverse workforce and customer base. Failure to overcome any of these challenges could negatively affect our business and results of operations.
We face exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations that have recently harmed our results of operations and could in the future harm our results of operations.
We conduct transactions, including intercompany transactions, in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. As we grow our international operations, we expect the amount of our revenues denominated in foreign currencies to increase. Accordingly, changes in the value of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar could affect our reported revenues and operating results due to transactional and translational re-measurements that are reflected in our results of operations. As a result of such foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, it could be more difficult to detect underlying trends in our business and results of operations. In addition, to the extent that fluctuations in currency exchange rates cause our results of operations to differ from our expectations or the expectations of our investors, the trading price of our common stock could be adversely affected.
We do not currently maintain a program to hedge transactional exposures in foreign currencies. However, in the future, we may use derivative instruments, such as foreign currency forward and option contracts, to hedge exposures to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. The use of such hedging activities may not offset any or more than a portion of the adverse financial effects of unfavorable movements in foreign exchange rates over the limited time the hedges are in place. Moreover, the use of hedging instruments may introduce additional risks if we are unable to structure effective hedges with such instruments.
Risks Related to Ownership of Ourour Securities
We may not be able to meet the continued listing requirements for the Nasdaq Stock Market. If our common stock is delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market, our stock price could be adversely affected and the liquidity of our stock and our ability to obtain financing could be impaired.
Our common stock is currently listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. If we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market, such as the corporate governance requirements, minimum bid price requirement or the minimum stockholder’s equity requirement, The Nasdaq Capital Market may take steps to de-list our common stock. On July 25, 2022, we received a Nasdaq Staff Determination letter notifying us that for the preceding 30 consecutive business days we were not in compliance with the requirement that our common stock maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share.
We have until January 23, 2023 to comply with the $1.00 per share minimum bid price requirement. To remain listed, our common stock must have a closing bid price of at least $1.00 per share for ten consecutive business days prior to January 23, 2023. We intend to actively monitor the bid price of our securitiescommon stock and will consider available options to regain compliance with the Nasdaq listing requirements.
If we do not achieve compliance with the $1.00 per share minimum bid price requirement, the Nasdaq Staff would be required to issue us a delisting notice. We would have the opportunity to appeal a delisting notice to a Nasdaq Hearings Panel, which would delay any delisting until at least the date of the hearing. The Nasdaq Hearings Panel has discretion to grant an exception for up to 180 days after the initial delisting determination but it is not required to do so and may fluctuate significantly.order a lesser exception period or order an immediate delisting. We may also fail to satisfy other Nasdaq continued listing requirements in the future.
Any delisting of our common stock by Nasdaq could adversely affect our ability to attract new investors, impair stockholders’ ability to sell or purchase their common stock when they wish to do so, decrease the liquidity of the outstanding shares of common stock, reduce the price at which such shares trade and increase the transaction costs inherent in trading such shares with overall negative effects for our shareholders. In addition, delisting of the common stock could deter broker-dealers from making a market in or otherwise seeking or generating interest in our common stock, and might deter certain institutions and persons from investing in our stock at all.
No assurance can be given that we will be able to satisfy our continued listing requirements and maintain the listing of our common stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market.
Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A)(iii) (the “$0.10 Rule”), our common stock may be subject to immediate delisting from Nasdaq if our common stock has a closing bid price of $0.10 or less for any ten (10) consecutive trading days. In the event that we are in violation of the $0.10 Rule, Nasdaq will issue a Staff Delisting Determination with the potential opportunity for us to appeal that determination.
There can be no assurances that we will be able to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement nor can there be assurances that we will maintain compliance with the $0.10 Rule, particularly if the price of our common stock declines as a result of this offering. If we are unable to regain or maintain compliance with these Nasdaq requirements, our common stock will be delisted from Nasdaq.
Our stock price has fluctuated in the past, has recently been volatile and may be volatile in the future, and as a result, investors in our common stock could incur substantial losses.
AnOur stock price has fluctuated in the past, has recently been volatile and may be volatile in the future. Our closing share price on January 4, 2021 was $5.38 with a high closing price of $7.21 and a closing share price on December 31, 2021 of $2.72 and a closing share price on November 11, 2022 of $0.29. These fluctuations do not appear to be based on any business fundamentals. We may incur rapid and substantial decreases in our stock price in the foreseeable future that are unrelated to our operating performance or prospects. In addition, the recent outbreak of war in the Ukraine has caused broad stock market and industry fluctuations. The stock market generally and the market for gaming companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. As a result of this volatility, investors may experience losses on their investment in our securities is risky and should be made only if an investor can withstand a significant loss and wide fluctuations in the market value of their investment. Some factors that may cause thecommon stock. The market price offor our securities to fluctuate, in addition tocommon stock may be influenced by many factors, including the other risks mentioned in this “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this registration statement are:following:
sale of our common stock by our stockholders, executives, and directors; | ||
volatility and limitations in trading volumes of our securities; | ||
our ability to obtain financings to implement our business plans, including the acquisitions of operators; | ||
the timing and success of introductions of new products by us or our competitors or any other change in the competitive dynamics of our industry, including consolidation among competitors; | ||
our ability to attract new customers; | ||
changes in our capital structure or dividend policy, future issuances of securities and sales of large blocks of securities by our stockholders; | ||
our cash position; | ||
announcements and events surrounding financing efforts, including debt and equity securities; | ||
our inability to enter into new markets or develop new products; | ||
reputational issues; | ||
our inability to successfully manage our business or achieve profitability; | ||
announcements of acquisitions, partnerships, collaborations, joint ventures, new products, capital commitments, or other events by us or our competitors; | ||
changes in general economic, political and market conditions in any of the regions in which we conduct our business; | ||
changes in industry conditions or perceptions; | ||
analyst research reports, recommendation and changes in recommendations, price targets, and withdrawals of coverage; | ||
departures and additions of key personnel; | ||
disputes and litigation related to intellectual properties, proprietary rights, and contractual obligations; | ||
changes in applicable laws, rules, regulations, or accounting practices and other dynamics; | ||
market conditions or trends in the gaming industry; and | ||
other events or factors, many of which may be out of our control. |
In addition, ifThese broad market and industry factors may seriously harm the market for stocks in our industry, or the stock market in general, experiences a loss of investor confidence, the trading price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. Since the stock price of our common stock has fluctuated in the past, has been recently volatile and may be volatile in the future, investors in our common stock could incur substantial losses. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market, securities class-action litigation has often been instituted against companies. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could decline for reasons unrelated toresult in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Any of these factors may make it more difficultoperations and growth prospects. There can be no guarantee that our stock price will remain at current prices or impossible for investors to sell our securities or obtain a return on their investment. In the past, shareholders have instituted securities class action litigation against some companies following periods of market volatility. If we become involved in such securities litigation, we could, among other things, incur substantial costs and the attentionthat future sales of our management couldcommon stock will not be divertedat prices lower than those sold to investors.
Additionally, recently, securities of certain companies have experienced significant and extreme volatility in stock price due to short sellers need to purchase shares of common stock, known as a “short squeeze.” These short squeezes have caused extreme volatility in the common stock price of those companies and in the market and have led to the price per share of common stock of those companies trading at a significantly inflated price that is disconnected from the underlying value of the company. Many investors who have purchased shares of common stock in those companies at an inflated price face the risk of losing a significant portion of their original investment as the price per share has declined steadily as interest in those stocks has abated. While we have no reason to believe our shares of common stock would be the target of a short squeeze, there can be no assurance that we will not be in the future, and you may lose a significant portion or all of your investment if you purchase our shares of common stock at a rate that is significantly disconnected from our business.underlying value.
Future sales of shares of our common stock or the perception in the public markets that these sales may occur, may depress our stock price.
The market price of our common stock could decline significantly as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock in the market. In addition, if our significant stockholders sell a large number of shares, or if our warrant holders exercise their warrants and sell the underlying shares or if we issue a large number of shares, the market price of our common stock could decline. Any issuance of additional common stock, or common stock equivalents by us would result in dilution to our existing shareholders. Such issuances could be made at a price that reflects a discount to the then-current trading price of our common stock. Moreover, the perception in the public market that stockholders may sell shares of our stock or that we may issue additional shares of common stock could depress the market for our shares. and make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities at any time in the future if at all.
We may issue additional shares of common stock and preferred stock without stockholder approval, which would dilute the current holders of our common stock. In addition, the exercise or conversion of currently outstanding securities would further dilute holders of our common stock.
Our Board of Directors has authority, without action or vote of our shareholders, to issue shares of common and preferred stock. We may issue shares of our common stock or preferred stock to complete a business combination or to raise capital. Such stock issuances could be made at a price that reflects a discount from the then-current trading price of our common stock. These issuances would dilute our stockholders’ ownership interest, which among other things would have the effect of reducing their influence on matters on which our stockholders vote. In addition, our stockholders and prospective investors may incur additional dilution if holders of stock options and warrants, whether currently outstanding or subsequently granted, exercise their options or warrants to purchase shares of our common stock or if our convertible debt holders convert their debt.
The rights of the holders of our common stock may be impaired by the potential issuance of preferred stock.
Our certificate of incorporation gives our Board of Directors the right to create one or more new series of preferred stock. As a result, the Board of Directors may, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting, dividend, conversion, liquidation or other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and equity interests of the holders of our common stock. Preferredstock, preferred stock, which could be issued with the right to more than one vote per share, would dilute the rights of our common stockholders and could be used to discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company, which could materially adversely affect the price of our common stock.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports, or publish unfavorable research or reports about our business, our stock price and trading volume may decline.
The trading market for our common stock will rely in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us, our business, our markets and our competitors. We currently do not have anylimited analyst coverage. If securities analysts do not cover our common stock, the lack of research coverage may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Furthermore, if we should have analyst coverage and one or more of the analysts who do cover us downgrade our stock or if those analysts issue other unfavorable commentary about us or our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fails to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the market and interest in our stock could decrease, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline and may also impair our ability to expand our business with existing customers and attract new customers.
Because certain of our stockholders control a significant number of shares of our common stock, they may have effective control over actions requiring stockholder approval.
Gilda Pia Ciavarella, the spouse of our Chief Executive OfficerChairman of the Board is the beneficial owner of 4,394,5254,728,478 shares of our common stock and therefore our Chief Executive OfficerChairman is deemed to beneficially own approximately 26.3%19.9% of our outstanding shares of common stock on a fully diluted basis as of the date of the filing of this registration statement.prospectus. As a result, Ms. Ciavarella, has the ability to effectively control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets and the ability to control the management and affairs of our company. In addition, other members of our senior management team beneficially own approximately 14.5%2.8% of our outstanding shares of common stock on a fully diluted basis as of the date of the filing of this registration statement.prospectus. Accordingly, this concentration of ownership might harm the market price of our common stock by:
delaying, deferring or preventing a change in corporate control; | ||
impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us; or | ||
discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us. |
Delaware law and our corporate charter and bylaws contain anti-takeover provisions that could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of our company. For example, our Board of Directors has the authority to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the powers, preferences and rights of each series without stockholder approval. The ability to issue preferred stock could discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or make it more difficult for a third party to gain control of our company, or otherwise could materially adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Furthermore, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. This provision may prohibit or restrict large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, from merging or combining with us, which could discourage potential takeover attempts, reduce the price that investors may be willing to pay for shares of our common stock in the future and result in our market price being lower than it would be without these provisions.
Our certificate of incorporation has an exclusive forum for adjudication of disputes provision which limits the forum to the Delaware Court of Chancery for certain actions against the Company.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that the Delaware Court of Chancery, to the fullest extent permitted by law, is the sole and exclusive forum for certain actions including claims in the right of our company brought by a stockholder that are based upon a violation of a duty by a current or former director or officer or stockholder in such capacity or as to which the Delaware corporate law confers jurisdiction upon the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware.
A Delaware corporation is allowed to mandate in its corporate governance documents a chosen forum for the resolution of state law-based shareholder class actions, derivative suits and other intra-corporate disputes. Our management believes limiting state law-based claims to Delaware mitigate against the potential risk of another forum misapplying Delaware law is avoided. In addition, Delaware courts have a well-developed body of case law and we believe limiting the forum for the adjudication of any disputes will prevent costly and duplicative litigation and avoid the risk of inconsistent outcomes. Our Bylaws limit any stockholder’sshareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a forum it believes is favorable to shareholders in disputes with directors, officers or other employees.
The exclusive forum provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or other federal securities laws for which there is exclusive federal or concurrent federal and state jurisdiction. To the extent that any such claims may be based upon federal law claims, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Although our certificate contains the choice of forum provision described above, it is possible that a court could rule that such a provision is inapplicable for a particular claim or action or that such provision is unenforceable. Investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
This provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with the Company or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders, which may discourage such lawsuits against the Company and our directors, officers, employees or stockholders. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our shares of common stock so any returns will be limited to the value of our shares.
We currently anticipate that we will retain any future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
We effected a reverse stock split on December 12, 2019, which may decrease the liquidity of the shares of our common stock.
The liquidity of the shares of our common stock may be affected adversely by our recently effected reverse stock split given the reduced number of shares that is now outstanding following the reverse stock split. In addition, the reverse stock split increased the number of shareholders who own odd lots (less than 100 shares) of our common stock, creating the potential for such shareholders to experience an increase in the cost of selling their shares and greater difficulty effecting such sales.
Following the reverse stock split, the resulting market price of our common stock may not attract new investors, including institutional investors, and may not satisfy the investing requirements of those investors. Consequently, the trading liquidity of our common stock may not improve.
Although we believe that a higher market price of our common stock may help generate greater or broader investor interest, there can be no assurance that the reverse stock split will result in a share price that will attract new investors, including institutional investors.
An active trading market for our common stock may not be maintained, or we may fail to satisfy applicable Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) listing requirements.
Our common stock is currently traded on Nasdaq Capital Market, but we can provide no assurance that we will be able to maintain an active trading market for our shares on Nasdaq Capital Market or any other exchange in the future. The fact that a significant portion of our outstanding shares of common stock is closely held by a few individuals, results in it being more difficult for us to maintain an active trading market. If there is no active market for our common stock, it may be difficult for our stockholders to sell shares without depressing the market price for the shares or at all, our stock price could decline, and we may be unable to maintain compliance with applicable Nasdaq Capital Market listing requirements.
Risks Related to Our Securities
The pricewarrants that we issued in our prior offerings are speculative in nature and have certain provisions that could deter an acquisition of our common stock may fluctuate significantly.
An investment in our common stock is risky and should be made only if an investor can withstand a significant loss and wide fluctuations in the market value of your investment. Some factors that may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate, in addition to the other risks mentioned in this “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this prospectus, are:
In addition, if the market for stocks in our industry, or the stock market in general, experiences a loss of investor confidence, the trading price of our common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any of these factors may make it more difficult or impossible for investors to sell our common stock or obtain a return on their investment. In the past, shareholders have instituted securities class action litigation against some companies following periods of market volatility. If we become involved in such securities litigation, we could, among other things, incur substantial costs and the attention of our management could be diverted from our business.
Shares of our common stock lack an active trading market, which makes it more difficult for an investor to sell our common stock.
There is no assurance that an active trading market in our common stock will develop, or if such a market develops, that it will be sustained. Currently our shares of common stock are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market and thinly traded due to the limited number of shares available for trading. As a result, an investor may find it more difficult to dispose of our common stock or to obtain coverage for significant news events concerning us, and our common stock could become substantially less attractive for investment by financial institutions, as consideration in future capital raising transactions or for other purposes.
Future sales of shares of our common stock, or the perception in the public markets that these sales may occur, may depress our stock price.company.
The market price of our common stock could decline significantly as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock in the market. In addition, if our significant stockholders sell a large number of shares, or if we issue a large number of shares, the market price of our stock could decline. As a result, our shareholders could suffer losses or be unable to liquidate their holdings. Any issuance of additional common stock or common stock equivalents by us would also result in dilution to our existing shareholders. Such issuances could be made at a price that reflects a discount to the then-current trading price of our common stock. Moreover, the perception in the public market that stockholders may sell shares of our stock orwarrants that we may issue additional shares of common stock could depress the market for our shares and make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at any time, if at all.
We may issue additional shares of common stock without stockholder approval, which would dilute the current holders of our common stock.
Our Board of Directors has authority, without action or vote of our shareholders, to issue shares of common. We may issue shares of our common stock to complete a business combination or to raise capital. Such stock issuances could be made at a price that reflects a discount from the then-current trading price of our common stock. These issuances would dilute our stockholders’ ownership interest, which, among other things, would have the effect of reducing their influence on matters on which our stockholders vote. In addition, our stockholders and prospective investors may incur additional dilution if holders of stock options and warrants, whether currently outstanding or subsequently granted, exercise their options or warrants to purchase shares of our common stock.
The rights of the holders of our common stock may be impaired by the potential issuance of preferred stock.
Our certificate of incorporation gives our Board the right to create one or more new series of preferred stock. As a result, the Board may, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting, dividend, conversion, liquidation or other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and equity interests of the holders of our common stock. Preferred stock, which could be issued with the right to more than one vote per share, could be used to discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our Company, which could materially adversely affect the price of our common stock.
If we fail to comply with the rules under Sarbanes-Oxley related to accounting controls and procedures in the future, or, if we discover material weaknesses and other deficiencies in our internal control and accounting procedures, our stock price could decline significantly and raising capital could be more difficult.
Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to comply with the rules under Sarbanes-Oxley related to disclosure controls and procedures in the future, or, if we discover material weaknesses and other deficiencies in our internal control and accounting procedures, our stock price could decline significantly and raising capital could be more difficult. If material weaknesses or significant deficiencies are discovered or if we otherwise fail to achieve and maintain the adequacy of our internal control, we may not be able to ensure that we can conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley. Moreover, effective internal controls are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important to helping prevent financial fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business and operating results could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, and the trading price of our common stock could drop significantly.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports, or publish unfavorable research or reports about our business, our stock price and trading volume may decline.
The trading market for our common stock will rely in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us, our business, our markets and our competitors. We do not control these analysts. If securities analysts do not cover our common stock after the closing of this offering, the lack of research coverage may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Furthermore, if one or more of the analysts who do cover us downgrade our stock or if those analysts issue other unfavorable commentary about us or our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fails to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the market and interest in our stock could decrease, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline and may also impair our ability to expand our business with existing customers and attract new customers.
Our common stock may be subject to the “penny stock” rules of the SEC and the trading market in the securities is limited, which makes transactions in the stock cumbersome and may reduce the value of an investment in the stock.
Rule 15g-9 under the Exchange Act establishes the definition of a “penny stock,” for the purposes relevant to us, as any equity security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share or with an exercise price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. For any transaction involving a penny stock, unless exempt, the rules require: (a) that a broker or dealer approve a person’s account for transactions in penny stocks; and (b) the broker or dealer receive from the investor a written agreement to the transaction, setting forth the identity and quantity of the penny stock to be purchased.
In order to approve a person’s account for transactions in penny stocks, the broker or dealer must: (a) obtain financial information and investment experience objectives of the person; and (b) make a reasonable determination that the transactions in penny stocks are suitable for that person and the person has sufficient knowledge and experience in financial matters to be capable of evaluating the risks of transactions in penny stocks.
The broker or dealer must also deliver, prior to any transaction in a penny stock, a disclosure schedule prescribed by the SEC relating to the penny stock market, which, in highlight form: (a) sets forth the basis on which the broker or dealer made the suitability determination; and (b) confirms that the broker or dealer received a signed, written agreement from the investor prior to the transaction. Generally, brokers may be less willing to execute transactions in securities subject to the “penny stock” rules. This may make it more difficult for investors to dispose of our common stock and cause a decline in the market value of our common stock.
Disclosure also has to be made about the risks of investing in penny stocks in both public offerings and in secondary trading and about the commissions payable to both the broker or dealer and the registered representative, current quotations for the securities and the rights and remedies available to an investor in cases of fraud in penny stock transactions. Finally, monthly statements have to be sent disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the account and information on the limited market in penny stocks.
Because certain of our stockholders control a significant number of shares of our common stock, they may have effective control over actions requiring stockholder approval.
Our directors, executive officers and principal stockholders and their respective affiliates, beneficially own approximately 41.4% of our outstanding shares of common stock on a fully diluted basis. As a result, these stockholders acting together, have the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In addition, these stockholders, acting together, would have the ability to control the management and affairs of our company. Accordingly, this concentration of ownership might harm the market price of our common stock by:
Delaware law and our corporate charter and bylaws contain anti-takeover provisions that could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of our company or changes in our management. For example, our Board has the authority to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the powers, preferences and rights of each series without stockholder approval. The ability to issue preferred stock could discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or make it more difficult for a third party to gain control of our Company, or otherwise could materially adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Furthermore, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. This provision may prohibit or restrict large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, from merging or combining with us, which could discourage potential takeover attempts, reduce the price that investors may be willing to pay for shares of our common stock in the future and result in our market price being lower than it would without these provisions.
The exercise of warrants and options and conversion of outstanding notes will result in dilution.
To the extent that outstanding stock options or warrants or notes have been or may be exercised or converted or other shares issued, investors may experience dilution and may never be profitable for holders of the warrants to exercise the warrants.
Our outstanding warrants, including the warrants issued in our follow on public offering and the warrants issued to the Selling Stockholders, are speculative in nature.
Our outstanding warrants, including the warrants issued in our follow on public offering and the warrants issued to the Selling Stockholders,prior offerings do not confer any rights of common stock ownership on their holders, such as voting rights or the right to receive dividends, but rather merely represent the right to acquire shares of common stock at a fixed price, subject to certain adjustments. Specifically, commencing onMoreover, the datemarket value of issuance, holderssuch warrants is uncertain and there can be no assurance that the market value of the warrants may exercisewill equal or exceed their right to acquire the common stock and pay the exercise price. Furthermore, each warrantthe warrants issued in our 2020 public offering will expire between two and five years from the original issuance date. In the event our common stock price does not exceed the exercise price of thesuch warrants during the period when thesuch warrants are exercisable, thesuch warrants may not have any value.
Holders of the warrants will have no rights as a common stockholder until they acquire our common stock.
Until holders of our warrants acquire shares of our common stock upon exercise of the warrants, the holders will have no rights with respect to shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. Upon exercise of the warrants, the holder will be entitled to exercise the rights of a common stockholder as to the security exercised only as to matters for which the record date occurs after the exercise.
There is no established market for our outstanding warrants.
There is no established trading market for our outstanding warrants and we do not expect a market to develop. In addition, we do not intend to apply for the listing of any warrants on any national securities exchange or other trading market. Without an active trading market, the liquidity of the warrants will be limited.
The exercise price of our warrants will not be adjusted for certain dilutive events.
The exercise price of the warrants sold issued to the Selling Stockholders and our other outstanding warrants are subject to adjustment for certain events, including, but not limited to, the payment of a stock dividend, stock splits, certain issuances of capital stock, options, convertible securities and other securities. However, the exercise prices will not be adjusted for dilutive issuances of securities and there may be transactions or occurrences that may adversely affect the market price of our common stock or the market value of such warrants without resulting in an adjustment of the exercise prices of such warrants.
Provisions of our outstanding warrants could discourage an acquisition of us by a third party.
In addition to the provisions of our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws, certain provisions of the warrants we have issued in our outstanding warrants2020 public offering and our 2020 registered direct offering could make it more difficult or expensive for a third party to acquire us. The warrants issued in our 2020 public offering and our 2020 registered direct offering prohibit us from engaging in certain transactions constituting “fundamental transactions” unless, among other things, the surviving entity assumes our obligations under thesuch warrants. These and other provisions of the warrants could prevent or deter a third party from acquiring us even where the acquisition could be beneficial to you.
Risks Related to this Offering
This is a best efforts offering, no minimum amount of securities is required to be sold, and we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our business plans.
The placement agent has agreed to use its reasonable best efforts to solicit offers to purchase the securities being offered in this offering. The placement agent has no obligation to buy any of the securities from us or to arrange for the purchase or sale of any specific number or dollar amount of the securities. There is no required minimum number of securities or amount of proceeds that must be sold as a condition to completion of this offering. Because there is no minimum offering amount required as a condition to the closing of this offering, the actual offering amount, placement agent fees and proceeds to us are not presently determinable and may be substantially less than the maximum amounts set forth above. We may sell fewer than all of the securities offered hereby, which may significantly reduce the amount of proceeds received by us, and investors in this offering will not receive a refund in the event that we do not sell an amount of securities sufficient to fund for our operations as described in the “Use of Proceeds” section herein. Thus, we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our operations in the short-term and may need to raise additional funds, which may not be available or available on terms acceptable to us.
You will be unable to exercise the Series B warrants and they may have no value under certain circumstances.
We will not have authorized shares available to permit exercise of the Series B warrants and such warrants will not be exercisable if we do not obtain stockholder approval to either increase the number of authorized shares of common stock or effect a reverse stock split, in either case in an amount sufficient to permit exercise in full of the Series B warrants. If we are unable to obtain such approval, the Series B warrants will have no value. In no event may the Series B warrants be net cash settled.
Management will have broad discretion with respect to the use of the proceeds from this offering.
Our management will have broad discretion as to the application of the net proceeds from this offering and could use them for purposes other than those contemplated at the time of the offering. Our stockholders may not agree with the manner in which our management chooses to allocate and spend the net proceeds. It is possible that our management may use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes that may not improve our financial condition or market value.
There is no public market for the units, pre-funded units, common warrants or pre-funded warrants.
There is no established public trading market for the units, pre-funded units, common warrants or pre-funded warrants offered hereby, and we do not expect a market to develop. In addition, we do not intend to pay cash dividendsapply to list the units, pre-funded units, common warrants or pre-funded warrants on any national securities exchange or other nationally recognized trading system, including the Nasdaq Capital Market. Without an active market, the liquidity of those securities will be limited.
The warrants in this offering are speculative in nature.
Following this offering, the market value of the common warrants, if any, is uncertain and there can be no assurance that the market value of the common warrants will equal or exceed their imputed public offering price. In the event that our common stock price does not exceed the exercise price of the common warrants during the period when such common warrants are exercisable, such warrants may not have any value. Furthermore, each common warrant will expire five years from its initial exercise date.
Holders of the common warrants and pre-funded warrants will not have rights of holders of our shares of common stock so any returns will be limited to the value of our shares.until such common warrants and pre-funded warrants are exercised.
The common warrants and pre-funded warrants in this offering do not confer any rights of share ownership on their holders, but rather merely represent the right to acquire shares of our common stock at a fixed price. Until holders of common warrants and pre-funded warrants acquire shares of our common stock upon exercise of the common warrants and pre-funded warrants, as applicable, holders of common warrants and pre-funded warrants will have no rights with respect to our shares of common stock underlying such common warrants and pre-funded warrants
We currently anticipatemay not receive any additional funds upon the exercise of the common warrants or pre-funded warrants.
The common warrants and pre-funded warrants provide that if we do not maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the common warrants and pre-funded warrants, they may be exercised by way of a cashless exercise, meaning that the holder may not pay a cash purchase price upon exercise, but instead would receive upon such exercise the net number of shares of our common stock determined according to the formula set forth in the common warrants and pre-funded warrants. Accordingly, we may not receive any additional funds upon the exercise of the common warrants or pre-funded warrants.
Provisions of the common warrants could result in a cash payment in the event of a fundamental transaction.
Certain provisions of the common warrants issued by us could make it more difficult or expensive for a third party to acquire us. The common warrants prohibit us from engaging in certain transactions constituting “fundamental transactions” unless, among other things, the surviving entity assumes our obligations under the warrants. Further, the common warrants provide that, in the event of certain transactions constituting “fundamental transactions,” with some exception, holders of such common warrants will have the right, at their option, to require us to repurchase such common warrants at a designated price.
This is a best efforts offering, no minimum amount of securities is required to be sold, and we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our business plans.
The placement agent has agreed to use its reasonable best efforts to solicit offers to purchase the securities being offered in this offering. The placement agent has no obligation to buy any of the securities from us or to arrange for the purchase or sale of any specific number or dollar amount of the securities. There is no required minimum number of securities or amount of proceeds that must be sold as a condition to completion of this offering. Because there is no minimum offering amount required as a condition to the closing of this offering, the actual offering amount, placement agent fees and proceeds to us are not presently determinable and may be substantially less than the maximum amounts set forth above. We may sell fewer than all of the securities offered hereby, which may significantly reduce the amount of proceeds received by us, and investors in this offering will not receive a refund in the event that we do not sell an amount of securities sufficient to fund for our operations as described in the “Use of Proceeds” section herein. Thus, we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our operations in the short-term and may need to raise additional funds, which may not be available or available on terms acceptable to us.
You will retain future earnings forexperience immediate and substantial dilution in the development, operationnet tangible book value per share of the common stock included in the units in this offering and expansionmay experience additional dilution of your investment in the future.
The effective price per share of common stock included in the units or issuable upon exercise of the common warrants is substantially higher than the net tangible book value per share of our businesscommon stock outstanding prior to this offering. Based on the assumed public offering price of $0.1592 per unit (the last reported sale price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on December 6, 2022) and do not anticipate declaring or payingassuming the sale of 100% of the units offered and no sale of any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. Any return to stockholderspre-funded units, being sold in this offering, and our net tangible book value per share as of September 30, 2022, if you purchase units in this offering, you will therefore be limitedsuffer immediate and substantial dilution of $0.3490 per share, with respect to the increase,net tangible book value of the common stock Furthermore, if outstanding options or warrants are exercised or the warrants sold in this offering are exercised, you could experience further dilution. See the section titled “Dilution” below for a more detailed discussion of the dilution you will incur if you purchase units in this offering. Further, because we may need to raise additional capital to fund our anticipated level of operations, we may in the future sell substantial amounts of common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for common stock. These future issuances of equity or equity-linked securities, together with the exercise outstanding options or warrants and/or any additional shares issued in connection with acquisitions, if any, of our share price.will likely result in further dilution to investors.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This prospectus contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Forward looking information relating to future events, future financial performance, strategies, expectations, competitive environment, regulation and availability of resources. Such forward-looking statements include those that express plans, anticipation, intent, contingency, goals, targets or future development and/or otherwise are not statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and projections about future events and they are subject to risks and uncertainties known and unknown that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.
In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology, such as “may,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” “plan,” “potential” and similar expressions. Accordingly, these statements involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in them. Any forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed throughout this prospectus.
You should read this prospectus and the documents we have filed as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front cover of those documents.
Risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be different from those expressed or implied in our written or oral forward-looking statements may be found in this prospectus under the heading “Risk Factors.”
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.
New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict which factors will arise. In addition, we cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. We qualify all of the information presented in this prospectus particularly our forward-looking statements, by these cautionary statements.
USE OF PROCEEDS
This prospectus relates to SharesWe estimate that maythe net proceeds from this offering will be offered and sold from time to time by the Selling Stockholders. We will not receive any proceeds uponapproximately $4.3 million (assuming the sale of Shares byall securities offered hereby, at the Selling Stockholders in this offering. However, we may receive gross proceeds upon anassumed public offering price of $0.1592 per unit and assuming no sale of any pre-funded units and no exercise of the Warrantswarrants issued in this offering), after deducting the placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses payable by us. However, because this is a best efforts offering and there is no minimum offering amount required as a condition to the Selling Stockholdersclosing of this offering, the actual offering amount, the placement agent’s fees and net proceeds to us are not presently determinable and may be substantially less than the maximum amounts set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. If we sell only 50% of the securities offered hereby, we estimate that the net proceeds from this offering will be approximately $2.0 million.
We intend to use the proceeds, after deducting placement agent’s fees and offering expenses, for cash. See “Planworking capital, capital expenditures, and other general corporate purposes. We have not determined the amount of Distribution” elsewherenet proceeds to be used specifically for the foregoing purposes or any others we may pursue. As a result, our management will have broad discretion in the use and allocation of the net proceeds and investors will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of the net proceeds from any sale of the securities. Pending use of the net proceeds, we intend to invest the net proceeds of this prospectus for more information.offering in a variety of capital-preservation investments, including short-and intermediate-term, interest-bearing, investment-grade securities and government securities.
DIVIDEND POLICY
We have never declared nor paiddo not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends onto holders of our common stock andin the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain allfuture earnings, if any, to finance the growth of our cash and any earnings for use in our business and, therefore, do not anticipate paying anybusiness. If we decide to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future, determination to pay cashthe declaration and payment of such dividends on our common stock will be at the sole discretion of theour Board of Directors and may be discontinued at any time. In determining the amount of any future dividends, our Board of Directors will be dependent upontake into account any legal or contractual limitations, our consolidated financial condition, results of operations,actual and anticipated future earnings, cash flow, debt service and capital requirements and such other factors as thethat our Board of Directors deemsmay deem relevant.
DETERMINATION OF OFFERING PRICE
The Selling Stockholders will determine at what price they may sell the offered Shares (if any), and such sales may be made at prevailing market prices, or at privately negotiated prices.
THE PRIVATE PLACEMENT
On May 31, 2018, we closed a private placement transaction (the “Private Placement”) pursuant to which we entered into subscription agreements (the “Agreements”) with 130 unaffiliated accredited investors. We offered Agreements in both US and Canadian dollar denomination pursuant to which we Unit sold units to US Investors at a per unit price of $1,000 comprised of (i) a 10% convertible debenture in the principal amount of $1,000 with an initial maturity date of May 31, 2020, (ii) 208 shares of our common stock and (iii) warrants to purchase 1082.25 shares of our common stock that expire two years after issuance. The Selling Stockholders were investors in the Private Placement and FGP Protective Opportunity Master Fund acquired notes in the aggregate principal amount of $500,000 convertible into 1,250,000 shares of common stock, 104,000 shares of common stock and a warrant to purchase 541,125 shares of common stock and Thomas Prasil Trust acquired notes in the aggregate principal amount of $100,000 convertible into 250,000 shares of common stock, 20,800 shares of common stock and a warrant to purchase 108,225 shares of common stock. In consideration for extending the maturity date to September 28, 2020 of its debenture with a remaining balance of $350,000, during the quarter ended June 30, 2020, FGP Protective Opportunity Master Fund was issued a warrant to purchase 109,375 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.75 expiring May 30, 2022, and a warrant to purchase 27,344 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $5.00 expiring May 30, 2023. In consideration for extending the maturity date to September 28, 2020 of its debenture with a remaining balance, including accrued interest of $120,000 during the quarter ended June 30, 2020, Thomas Prasil Trust was issued a warrant to purchase 37,500 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.75 expiring May 30, 2022, and a warrant to purchase 9,375 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $5.00 expiring May 30, 2023.
SELLING STOCKHOLDERS
This prospectus covers the possible resale by the Selling Stockholders identified below, or its transferee(s), of a total of 183,504 shares of common stock underlying the Warrants. The Selling Stockholders may, from time to time, offer and sell pursuant to this prospectus any or all of the Shares that we have sold to them. The Selling Stockholders may sell some, all or none of their Shares. We do not know how long the Selling Stockholders will hold the shares before selling them, and we currently have no agreements, arrangements or understandings with the Selling Stockholders regarding the sale of any of the Shares.
The table is based on information supplied to us by the Selling Stockholders. The Selling Stockholders have indicated to us that neither they nor any of their affiliates has held any position or office or had any other material relationship with us in the past three years except as described in this paragraph.CAPITALIZATION
The following table sets forth the number of shares of the common stock beneficially owned by the Selling Stockholdersour cash and cash equivalents and capitalization as of October 21, 2020. The percentageSeptember 30, 2022:
● | on an actual basis; and | |
● | on an as adjusted basis to give effect to the sale of 31,407,035 units at the assumed public offering price of $0.1592 per unit (the closing sale price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on December 6, 2022, and assuming no sale of any pre-funded units and no exercise of the warrants issued in this offering), and after deducting placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses payable by us. |
You should read this table together with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of beneficial ownership is based on 16,700.139 sharesFinancial Condition and Results of Operations” and our financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.
As of September 30, 2022 (unaudited)
| |||||||||
Actual | As adjusted | ||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 4,690,034 | $ | 8,990,034 | |||||
Total liabilities | $ | 28,399,954 | $ | 28,399,954 | |||||
Stockholders’ Equity: | 14,194,472 | $ | 18,494,472 | ||||||
Common stock, $0.0001 par value; 80,000,000 shares authorized, 30,360,810 shares issued and outstanding, actual; 61,767,845 shares issued and outstanding, as adjusted | $ | 3,036 | 6,177 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital | $ | 73,756,657 | $ | 78,053,516 | |||||
Accumulated other comprehensive loss | $ | (1,129,079 | ) | (1,129,079 | ) | ||||
Accumulated deficit | $ | (58,436,142 | ) | $ | (58,436,142 | ) | |||
Total Stockholders’ Equity | $ | 14,194,472 | $ | 18,494,472 | |||||
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity | $ | 42,594,426 | $ | 46,894,426 |
[A $0.10 increase in the assumed public offering price of $0.1592 per unit (the closing sale price of our common stock outstanding ason the Nasdaq Capital Market on December 6, 2022), would increase cash and cash equivalents and total stockholders’ equity by approximately $2.9 million, after deducting placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses payable by us, and assuming the sale of October 21, 2020.
Selling Stockholder |
Beneficial Ownership Prior to the Sale of all Shares Covered by this Prospectus | Percentage of Beneficial Ownership Prior to the Sale of all Shares Covered by this Prospectus | Total Shares Offered By Selling Stockholder in the Offering Covered by this Prospectus |
Beneficial Ownership After the Sale of all Shares Covered by this Prospectus | Percentage of Beneficial Ownership After the Sale of all Shares Covered by this Prospectus |
FGP Protective Opportunity Master Fund | 136,719 | * | 136,719 | - | * |
Thomas Prasil Trust | 46,785 | * | 46,785 | - | * |
*less than 1%
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION
We are registering31,407,035 units set forth on the Shares previously issued to the Selling Stockholders. to permit the resale of these Shares by the Selling Stockholders from time to time after the effective date of this registration statement, of which this prospectus forms a part. The Selling Stockholders may be deemed “underwriters,” within the meaning of the Securities Act.
The Selling Stockholders, or their pledges, donees, transferees, or any of its successors in interest selling Shares received from the Selling Stockholders as a gift, partnership distribution or other non-sale related transfer after the datecover page of this prospectus may sell all or a portion ofremains the Shares beneficially owned by themsame and offered hereby from time to time directly or through one or more underwriters, broker-dealers or agents. If the shares of Common Stock are sold through underwriters or broker-dealers, the Selling Stockholders will be responsible for underwriting discounts or commissions or agent's commissions. The Shares may be sold in one or more transactions at fixed prices, at prevailing market prices at the time of theno sale at varying prices determined at the time of sale, or at negotiated prices. The Selling Stockholders will act independently of us in making decisions with respect to the timing, manner and size of each sale. These sales may be effected in transactions, which may involve crosses or block transactions:
The Selling Stockholders may also transfer the Shares by gift. The Selling Stockholders may engage brokers and dealers, and any brokers or dealers may arrange for other brokers or dealers to participate in effecting sales of the Shares. These brokers, dealers or underwriters may act as principals, or as an agent of a Selling Stockholders. Broker-dealers may agree with the Selling Stockholders to sell a specified number of the Shares at a stipulated price per security. If the broker-dealer is unable to sell the Shares acting as agent for the Selling Stockholders, it may purchase as principal any unsold Shares at the stipulated price. Broker-dealers who acquire Shares as principals may thereafter resell the Shares from time to time in transactions in any stock exchange or automated interdealer quotation system on which the Shares are then listed, at prices and on terms then prevailing at the time of sale, at prices related to the then-current market price or in negotiated transactions. Broker-dealers may use block transactions and sales to and through broker-dealers, including transactions of the nature described above.
The Selling Stockholders may also sell the Shares in accordance with Rule 144 under the Securities Act, rather than pursuant to this prospectus, regardless of whether the Shares are covered by this prospectus.
If the Selling Stockholders effects such transactions by selling Shares to or through underwriters, broker-dealers or agents, such underwriters, broker-dealers or agents may receive commissions in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions from the Selling Stockholders or commissions from purchasers of the shares of common stock for whom they may act as agent or to whom they may sell as principal (which discounts, concessions or commissions as to particular underwriters, broker-dealers or agents may be in excess of those customary in the types of transactions involved). In connection with sales of the Shares or otherwise, the Selling Stockholders may enter into hedging transactions with broker-dealers, which may in turn engage in short sales of the Shares in the course of hedging in positions they assume. The Selling Stockholders may also sell Shares short and deliver Shares covered by this prospectus to close out short positions and to return borrowed shares in connection with such short sales. The Selling Stockholders may also loan or pledge Shares to broker-dealers that in turn may sell such shares.
The Selling Stockholders may pledge or grant a security interest in some or all of the Shares owned by them and, if they default in the performance of its secured obligations, the pledgees or secured parties may offer and sell the Shares from time to time pursuant to this prospectus or any amendment to this prospectus under Rule 424(b)(3) or other applicable provision of the Securities Act amending, if necessary, the list of Selling Stockholders to include the pledgee, transferee or other successors in interest as Selling Stockholders under this prospectus. The Selling Stockholders also may transfer and donate the Shares in other circumstances in which case the transferees, donees, pledgees or other successors in interest will be the selling beneficial owners for purposes of this prospectus.
In addition, the Selling Stockholders may, from time to time, sell the Shares short, and, in those instances, this prospectus may be delivered in connection with the short sales and the Shares offered under this prospectus may be used to cover short sales.
The Selling Stockholders and any broker-dealer participating in the distribution of the Shares may be deemed to be “underwriters” within the meaning of the Securities Act, and any commission paid, or any discounts or concessions allowed to, any such broker-dealer may be deemed to be underwriting commissions or discounts under the Securities Act. At the time a particular offering of the Shares is made, a prospectus supplement, if required, will be distributed which will set forth the aggregate amount of Shares being offered and the terms of the offering, including the name or names of any broker-dealers or agents, any discounts, commissionspre-funded units in this offering. The as adjusted information discussed above is illustrative only and will adjust based on the actual public offering price and other terms constituting compensation from the Selling Stockholders and any discounts, commissions or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid to broker-dealers. The Selling Stockholders may indemnify any broker-dealer that participates in transactions involving the sale of the Shares against certain liabilities, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act.this offering determined at pricing.]
Under
This offering is being conducted on a “best efforts” basis and the securities lawstable above is illustrative of some states, the Shares may be sold in such states only through registered or licensed brokers or dealers. In addition, in some states the Shares may not be sold unless such shares have been registered or qualified for sale in such state or an exemption from registration or qualification is available and is complied with.
a maximum offering amount of $5,000,000. There can be no assurance that the Selling Stockholdersoffering contemplated hereby will sell anyultimately be consummated or allif it is consummated, there can be no assurance the amount of the Shares registered pursuantproceeds being made available to us. See “Risk Factors-Risks Relating to the registration statement,Offering- This is a best efforts offering, no minimum amount of which this prospectus forms a part.securities is required to be sold, and we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our business plans.”
The Selling Stockholders and any other person participating in such distribution will be subject to applicable provisions of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder, including, without limitation, Regulation M of the Exchange Act, which may limit the timing of purchases and sales of any of theabove table is based on 30,360,810 shares of common stock outstanding as of September 30, 2022 and excludes:
● | 2,384,063 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options with a weighted average exercise price of $3.07 per share as of September 30, 2022; |
● | 460,636 additional shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans as of September 30 2022; and |
● | 3,664,168 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding warrants with a weighted average exercise price of $1.17 per share as of September 30, 2022. |
DILUTION
If you invest in our securities in this offering, your interest will be immediately and substantially diluted to the extent of the difference between the public offering price per share unit and the as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock after giving effect to this offering.
Our historical net tangible book value as September 30, 2022 was $(16,372,768), or $(0.5393) per share of our common stock. “Net tangible book value” is total assets minus the sum of liabilities and intangible assets. “Net tangible book value per share” is net tangible book value divided by the Selling Stockholders and any other participating person. Regulation M may also restrict the abilitytotal number of any person engaged in the distribution of the Shares to engage in market-making activities with respect to the shares of common stock. Allstock outstanding.
Given that there is no minimum offering size, it is possible that we will receive significantly less proceeds than the expected proceeds of $5,000,000.
The following table illustrates this dilution on a per share basis to new investors based on the amount of funds we expect to receive on a sliding scale as a percentage of the foregoing may affect the marketabilitytotal offering amount (assuming no sale of any pre-funded units and no exercise of the Shareswarrants issued in this offering), and after deducting the placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses payable by us.
Offering Level | $ (25% of the maximum offering) | $ (50% of the maximum offering) | $ (75% of the maximum offering) | $ (100% of the maximum offering) | ||||||||||||
Assumed public offering price per Share | $ | 0.1592 | $ | 0.1592 | $ | 0.1592 | $ | 0.1592 | ||||||||
Net tangible book value per share as of September 30, 2022, before giving effect to this offering | $ | (0.5393 | ) | $ | (0.5393 | ) | $ | (0.5393 | ) | $ | (0.5393 | ) | ||||
Increase in net tangible book value per share attributed to existing investors | $ | 0.1321 | $ | 0.2267 | $ | 0.2938 | $ | 0.3438 | ||||||||
As adjusted net tangible book value per share after giving effect to this offering | $ | (0.4072 | ) | $ | (0.3126 | ) | $ | (0.2455 | ) | $ | (0.1955 | ) | ||||
Dilution to net tangible book value per share to new investors in this offering | $ | 0.5664 | $ | 0.4718 | $ | 0.4047 | $ | 0.3547 |
[A $0.10 increase in the assumed public offering price of $0.1592 per unit (the closing sale price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on December 6, 2022), would increase our as adjusted net tangible book value after giving effect to this offering by approximately $2.9 million and the abilitydilution per share to new investors in this offering by $0.4074 per share, after deducting placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses payable by us, and assuming the sale of 31,407,035 units set forth on the cover page of this prospectus remains the same and no sale of any person or entity to engagepre-funded units in market-making activities with respect to the Shares.this offering.]
The actual price at which units are sold in this offering and the actual amount of placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses payable by us may be lesser or greater than the assumed amounts reflected in the table above. We will pay all expensesmay also decrease the number of units we are offering from the registrationassumed number of units set forth above.
The dilution information set forth in the Shares estimated to be $35,000 in total. Once sold under the registration statement, of which this prospectus forms a part, the Sharestable above is illustrative only and will be freely tradableadjusted based on the actual public offering price, the actual number of securities sold in the handsthis offering and other terms of persons other than our affiliates.this offering determined at pricing.
The above table is based on 30,360,810 shares of common stock outstanding as of September 30, 2022 and excludes:
● | 2,384,063 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options with a weighted average exercise price of $3.07 per share as of September 30, 2022: |
● | 460,636 additional shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans as of September 30, 2022; and |
● | 3,664,168 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding warrants with a weighted average exercise price of $1.17 per share as of September 30, 2022. |
To the extent that our outstanding options or warrants are exercised, you could experience further dilution. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of additional equity, the issuance of any of our shares common stock could result in further dilution to our stockholders.
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and plan of operations together with our financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. In addition to historical information, this discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those discussed below. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below, and those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this prospectus. All amounts in this report are in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted.
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and plan of operations together with our financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. In addition to historical information, this discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those discussed below. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below, and those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this prospectus. All amounts in this prospectus are in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted.
Overview
Except as expressly stated, the financial condition and results of operations discussed throughout the Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations are those of Newgioco Group, Inc.Elys Game Technology, Corp. and its consolidated subsidiaries.
We currently provide our B2C gaming services in Italy through our subsidiary, Multigioco, which operations are a licensedcarried out via both land-based or online retail gaming Operator inlicenses regulated by the regulated ItalianAgenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (“ADM”) that permits us to distribute leisure betting market holding an “online”, “retail”products such as sports betting, and “CED retail” bookmaker licensesvirtual sports betting products through our Multigioco, Rifa and Ulisse subsidiaries, respectively. As an Operator, we collect gaming wagers and sports bets through two distribution channels: (i) online through websites on internet browsers, mobile applications and physical venues known as “web-shops” (internet cafes; kiosks, coffee-shops, convenience stores and restaurants, etc.) where patrons can load their online gaming account through PC’s situated at each venue, and (ii) throughboth physical, land-based retail venues (off-track betting shops, SSBT (“self-serve betting terminal”) kiosks, coffee-shops, convenience storeslocations as well as online through our licensed website www.newgioco.it or commercial webskins linked to our licensed website and restaurants, etc.).through mobile devices. Management implemented a consolidation strategy in the Italian market by integrating all B2C operations into Multigioco and allowed the Austria Bookmaker license that was regulated by the BMF to terminate.
We also provide bookmaking services in the U.S. market via our recently acquired subsidiary USB and Elys Gameboard Technologies, LLC in certain regulated states where we offer B2B bookmaking and platform services to our customers. Our intention is to focus our attention on expanding the U.S. market. We recently began operation in Washington, D.C. through a Class B Managed Service Provider and Class B Operator license to operate a sportsbook within the Grand Central Restaurant and Sportsbook located in the Adams Morgan area of Washington, D.C., and in October 2021 we entered into an agreement with Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City and commenced operations in the state of New Jersey in March 2022.
Additionally, we are a globalprovide B2B gaming technology companythrough our Odissea subsidiary which owns and operates a betting software designed with a unique “distributed model” architecture colloquially named Elys Game Board (the “Platform”) through our Odissea subsidiary.Elys. The Platform is a fully integrated “omni-channel” framework that combines centralized technology for updating, servicing and operations with multi-channel functionality to accept all forms of customer payment through the two distribution channels described above. The omni-channel software design is fully integrated with a built in player gaming account management system, built-in sports book and a virtual sports platform through our VGVirtual Generation subsidiary. The Platform also provides seamless application programming interface integration of third-party supplied products such as online casino, poker, lottery and horse racing and has the capability to incorporate e-sports and daily fantasy sports providers. Management implemented a growth strategy to expand B2B gaming technology operations in the U.S. and is considering further expansion in Canada and Latin American countries in the near future.
Our corporate group is based in North America, which includes a head officean executive suite situated in Las Vegas, Nevada and an office in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with satellite offices in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida through which our CEO and CFOwe carry-out corporate activities, handle corporate duties, day-to-day reporting duties,and U.S. development planning, and through which various employees, independent contractors and vendors are engaged.
We operate two business segments inFor the leisure gaming industry and our revenue is derived as follows:
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Currently,period ended September 30, 2022, transaction revenue generated through our subsidiariessubsidiary Multigioco Rifa and Ulisse, consistconsisted of wagering and gaming transaction income broken down to: (i) spread on sports bet wagers, and (ii) fixed rate commissions on casino, poker, lotto and horse racing wagers from online based betting web-shops and websites as well as land-based retail betting shops located throughout Italy; while our service revenue generated by our Platform is primarily derived from bet and wager processing in Italy through Multigioco, and in the U.S., through Elys Gameboard Technologies and USB. During the second quarter of 2021, management simplified our Italian footprint by focusing investments towards our Multigioco Rifaoperations and discontinued Ulisse operationssince the majority of CTD locations were not expected to re-open after the COVID-19 related lockdowns in Italy.Italy subsided.
We believe that our Platform is considered one of the newest betting software platforms in the world and our plan is to expand our Platform offering to new jurisdictions around the world on a B2B basis, including expansion through Europe, South America, South Africa and the developing market in the United States. During the year ended December 31, 2019three and for the sixnine months ended JuneSeptember 30, 20202022 and 2021, we also generated service revenue from royalties through authorized agents by providing our virtual sports products through our VGVirtual Generation subsidiary inand generated service revenues through the following 12 countries: Italy, Peru, Nigeria, Paraguay, Albania, Honduras, Colombia, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Uganda, Nicaragua,provision of bookmaking and Turkey.platform services through our subsidiary, USB. We intend to leverage our partnerships in these 12 countriesEurope, South America, South Africa and the developing market in the United States to cross-sell our Platform services to expand the global distribution of our betting solutions.
We operate two business segments in the leisure gaming industry and our revenue is derived as follows:
1. | Betting establishments |
Transaction revenue through our offering of leisure betting products to retail customers directly through our online distribution on websites or a betting shop establishment or through third party agents that operate white-label websites and/or land-based retail venues; and
2. | Betting platform software and services |
SaaS based service revenue through providing our Platform and virtual sports products to betting operators.
This Management’s Discussion and Analysis includes a discussion of our operations for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, which includes the operations of USB for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and the three months ended September 30, 2021.
Recent Developments
Operational Developments
Impact of COVID-19
Management has implemented a strategic business initiative to reduce expenditure, improve efficiencies and maximize profitability within the underlying operating units. As a result, during the nine months ended September 30, 2022, Multigioco achieved net income of approximately $0.8 million, while on a combined basis, our European operations, which consists of Multigioco, Odissea, Ulisse, Virtual Generation and Elys Technology Services, achieved a net income position of approximately $0.28 million overall. The performance of our USB subsidiary in the U.S. has been disappointing, producing a net loss of $1.62 million on revenues of $0.9 million, which is primarily due to personnel costs that increased to $1.08 million and amortization of intangibles of $0.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. We have recently assumed operational management of USB and are currently assessing the viability of its customers and the current level of overhead. We also expect to enter mediation with the existing management in an attempt to address the sustainability of the global outbreakoperations in its current format. Our other U.S. operation, Elys Gameboard, commenced operations in October 2021 and had produced a net loss of $0.45 million, with one operational customer. We are pursuing several new customers both in the COVID-19 virus, on March 8, 2020 the Italian government issued a decree which imposed certain restrictions and closures of public gatherings and travel which included betting shops, arcades and bingo halls across Italy until April 3, 2020. Accordingly, the Company temporarily closed approximately 150 betting shop locations throughout Italy as a result of the decree until May 4, 2020, when the Company began reopening physical webshop locations. Subsequently, on March 10, 2020 the Italian government imposed further restrictions on travel throughout ItalyWashington D.C. area as well as transborder crossingsin Maryland and have either postponed or cancelled most professional sports events which has had an effect onOhio and once secured we expect to achieve profitable operations within the Company’s overall sports betting handle and revenues and may negatively impact the Company’s operating results. On June 19, 2020 all land-based betting shops, including corner locations such as coffee shops throughout Italy reopened. The closing of physical betting shop locations did not affect the Company’s online and mobile business operations which mitigated some of the impact.next twelve to eighteen months.
We anticipate that COVID-19 will continueare also taking steps to negatively impactreduce corporate overhead and have restructured our operations by streamlining roles and reducing non-essential operating results in future periods, however,expenditures. Corporate overhead expenditures, net of one-time severance and restructuring expenses of $1.2 million, and non-cash option and compensation expense of $4.39 million were reduced by approximately $0.87 million during the duration and scope ofnine month period. Non-cash stock option expense increased by $3.0 million over the COVID-19 outbreak worldwide, including the impactprior year primarily due to the staterestricted stock grant during September 2022 and local economies is not readily determinable at this time.stock options granted to key members of management during the prior year.
Recent Financial DevelopmentsGlobal issues
On August 17, 2020, the Company closed its underwritten public offeringRussia’s invasion of 4,166,666 units at a price of $2.40 per unit for gross proceeds of $9,999,998, before underwriting commission of $800,000 and other offering expenses. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one five year warrant exercisable for one share of common stock at an exercise price of $2.50 per share.Ukraine
Expansion and New Markets
United States Operations Development
In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court (“SCOTUS”) ruled that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (the “PASPA”) was unconstitutional as it violates the Tenth Amendment prohibition against forcing states to implement federal laws. Enacted in 1992, PASPA generally prohibited states from authorizing, licensing or sponsoring betting on competitive games in which amateur or professional athletes participate. PASPA did not make sports betting a federal crime; rather, it allowed the attorney general for the Department of Justice, as well as professional and amateur sports organizations, to bring civil actions to enjoin violations of the act. The SCOTUS decision opens the door for all states to legalize and regulate sports gambling within their borders. States such as Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Montana, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, New York, New Mexico, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Michigan, Mississippi, Colorado and the District of Columbia have passed laws that were ready to be enacted once the federal ban on sports betting was lifted. In addition, additional states including Maine, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio and Maryland are considering active bills.
We believe that the U.S. sports betting and online gaming market presents a large opportunity to deploy our Platform on a Software as a Service (SaaS) basis to several potential independent commercial and tribal casino and gaming operators throughout the United States. We have analyzed the technical specifications checklist supplied by Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) to verify that coding in our software meets the functional specifications set forthRussia recently invaded Ukraine with Belarus complicit in the GLI-33 standards (the Gaming Laboratories International technical standard for event wagering systems). We believe that our Platform currently meets the majority of the GLI-33 certification standards and we expect to be in a position to send our software to GLI for certification ininvasion. The conflict between these two phases as follows: (1) the first phase began on July 15, 2020,countries is expected to last about six weeks for verification of retail functionality (such as POS and SSBT); and (2) the second phase intended to begin by October 2020 for the verification of mobile and website functionality. Upon obtaining GLI-33 certification and obtaining regulatory approvals to operate, we expect to be well-positioned to commence processing sports bets in the U.S. on a SaaS basis through our Platform.ongoing.
As part of our multi-year business growth strategy, we made significant investments for expansion into new markets outside of Italy, including preparation of the platform for the GLI-33 certification, professional services, trade show marketing and brand promotion in the second half of 2018 and first half of 2019 to enter and then build a foundation aimed at accelerating our recently announced U.S. expansion plans. To support these principal objectives, we initiated an ambitious investment strategy that is fundamental to the successful execution of our long-term business plan. These fundamental investments have resulted in short-term, non-recurring expenses related to key elements such as regulatory and policy requirements and establishing a centralized US-based headquarters. In the third quarter of 2018, we also established a plan to relocate our CEO to the U.S., commenced the recruitment and evaluation of key officers, as well as allocating a software development team at Odissea for coding and submission of our Platform for GLI-33 certification to GLI for the U.S. market.
We do not have any direct or indirect exposure to Ukraine, Belarus or Russia, through our operations, employee base or any investments in any of these countries. In March 2019, we entered into a five-year agreement with Fleetwood Gaming, Inc. for the exclusive rights to distributeaddition, our Platform at select non-tribal locations such as sports bars and taverns in the state of Montana. The multi-year agreement is expected to allow Fleetwood to install our Platform throughout Fleetwood's distribution network in Montana.
In April 2019, we entered into a five-year agreement with the Chippewa Cree Tribe in Box Elder, Montana to install our Platform at the Northern Winz Casino. In this regard, in September 2019, we transacted the first legal Class 1 real-money bet in the U.S. on Indian Horse Relay Racing and on December 21, 2019 on traditional Indian Stick Game. Class 1 betting represents traditional indigenous sporting events or games thatsecurities are not classed as mainstream sports bets.
In October 2019, we entered intotraded on any stock exchanges in these three countries. We do not believe that the sanction levied against Russia or Belarus or individuals and entities associated with these two countries will have a multi-year agreement with Grand Central, LLC, a retail sports bar operator in Washington, DC to provide sports betting products and services in their establishments upon the completion of their licensing process.
In September 2020, we engaged Matteo Monteverdi, former senior executive of Sportradar and IGT as President of the Company.
On May 28, 2020, the Company organized Elys Gameboard Technologies, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary for the purpose of expanding the Company's sports bettingmaterial impact on our operations throughout the US. The Company is in the process of seeking its first sports betting license in Washington, DC and anticipates launching its new US sports betting platform with its first US operator client by the end of 2020.
On June 11, 2020, our Odissea subsidiary passed Stage 1 of the ISO-27001 certification process for safety management which involves an informal review of the Information Security Management System (ISMS), for example checking the existence and completeness of key documentation such as the organization's information security policy, Statement of Applicability (SoA) and Risk Treatment Plan (RTP). The procedures for Stage 2 certification, involves a more detailed and formal compliance audit and independent testing of the ISMS against the requirements specified in ISO-27001, and is expected to be completed in approximately 4 months.
The commencement of betting transactions in Montana and Washington, DC are subject to obtaining the required certification, licensing and approvals from the Gambling Control Division of the Montana Department of Justice and the District of Columbia Office of the Lottery and Charitable Games, respectively, which has not been determined as of the date of this registration statement.
Inflationor business, if any.
We do not believe that we have any direct or indirect reliance on goods sourced from Russia, Ukraine or Belarus or countries that are supportive of Russia.
We provide online gaming services and platform services to several customers, including our own internal usage of our developed software, we employ the latest encryption techniques and firewall practices and constantly monitor the usage of our software as is required for the regulated markets which we operate in, this, however, may not be sufficient to prevent the heightened risk of cybersecurity attacks emanating from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, or any other country.
The impact of the invasion by Russia of Ukraine has increased volatility in trading prices and commodities throughout the world, to date, we have not seen a material impact on our operations, however, a prolonged conflict may impact on consumer spending, in general, which could have an adverse impact on the leisure gaming industry as a whole.
Results of Operations for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and the three months ended September 30, 2021
Revenues
The following table represents disaggregated revenues from our gaming operations for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021. Net Gaming Revenues represents Turnover (also referred to as “Handle”), the total bets processed for the period, less customer winnings paid out, and taxes due to government authorities, Service Revenues is revenue invoiced for our Elys software service and royalties invoiced for the sale of virtual products.
Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||
September 30, 2022 | September 30, 2021 | Increase (decrease) | Percentage change | |||||||||||||
Turnover | ||||||||||||||||
Turnover web-based | $ | 163,563,603 | $ | 162,471,799 | $ | 1,091,804 | 0.7 | % | ||||||||
Turnover land-based | 2,924,866 | 1,193,779 | 1,731,087 | 145.0 | % | |||||||||||
Total Turnover | 166,488,469 | 163,665,578 | 2,822,891 | 1.7 | % | |||||||||||
Winnings/Payouts | ||||||||||||||||
Winnings web-based | 152,545,450 | 152,328,199 | 217,251 | 0.1 | % | |||||||||||
Winnings land-based | 2,208,100 | 1,031,217 | 1,176,883 | 114.1 | % | |||||||||||
Total Winnings/payouts | 154,753,550 | 153,359,416 | 1,394,134 | 0.9 | % | |||||||||||
Gross Gaming Revenues | ||||||||||||||||
Web-Based | 11,018,153 | 10,143,600 | 874,553 | 8.6 | % | |||||||||||
Land-Based | 716,766 | 162,562 | 554,204 | 340.9 | % | |||||||||||
Gross Gaming Revenues | 11,734,919 | 10,306,162 | 1,428,757 | 13.9 | % | |||||||||||
Less: ADM Gaming Taxes | 2,822,830 | 2,515,570 | 307,260 | 12.2 | % | |||||||||||
Net Gaming Revenues | 8,912,089 | 7,790,592 | 1,121,497 | 14.4 | % | |||||||||||
Add: Service Revenues | 679,205 | 239,490 | 439,717 | 183.6 | % | |||||||||||
Total Revenues | $ | 9,591,294 | $ | 8,030,082 | $ | 1,561,214 | 19.4 | % | ||||||||
The change in turnover (handle) is primarily due to the following:
Web-based turnover
For the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, all of our web-based turnover was generated by Multigioco after the closure of our Ulisse CTD operations in the second quarter of the prior year. The strengthening of the average U.S. Dollar exchange rate against the Euro during the current year had an adverse foreign currency impact of approximately $25.5 million or 15.7% when comparing the three months ended September 30,2022 to the three months ended September 30, 2021. Our Euro web-based turnover for the three months ended September 30, 2022 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2021 increased by €24.9 million from €138.5 million to €163.4 million or 18.0%, however turnover growth in US Dollars was only $1.1 million or 0.7%. The softening of COVID restrictions in Italy has also driven some web-based turnover to the land-based channel, and despite this effect, we managed to increase web-based turnover due to market share growth in Italy. The percentage of payouts on web-based turnover improved slightly to 93.3% from 93.8% for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 respectively.
Land-based turnover
During the three months ended September 30, 2022, we activated approximately 30 new land-based locations in Multigioco with recently acquired operating rights. The strengthening of the average U.S. Dollar exchange rate against the Euro during the current year had an adverse foreign currency impact of approximately $0.1 million or 12.4% when comparing the three months ended September 30,2022 to the three months ended September 30, 2021. Our Euro land-based turnover for the three months ended September 30, 2022 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2021 increased by €1.8 million from €1.0 million to €2.8 million or 180.0%, however turnover growth in US Dollars was only $1.7 million. The softening of COVID restrictions during the current year resulted in more walk-in patrons frequenting our land-based locations and we expect this revenue to continue increasing as the remaining 70 land-based locations from our recently acquired operating rights are rolled out. The percentage of payouts on land-based turnover improved to 75.5% from 86.4% for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 respectively.
The turnover mix impacts our Gross Gaming Revenue (“GGR”). Our turnover for the three months ended September 30, 2022 is as follows: sports betting turnover represented 19.1% (September 30, 2021 – 19.3%); casino style games represented 80.3% (September 30, 2021 – 80.0%); and other was 0.6% (September 30, 2021 – 0.7%). The margin earned on our sports book averaged 18.8% (September 30, 2021 – 14.9%) and our casino style games averaged 4.3% (September 30, 2021 - 4.2%), resulting in a blended GGR of 7.0% (September 30, 2021 – 6.3%). The slight shift towards lower margin casino type products during the current period was offset by the higher margin earned on the sports book during the current period.
Gaming taxes increased by approximately $0.3 million or 12.2% due to the improvement in GGR of approximately $1.4 million. The relative rate of our gaming taxes, which is based on Gross Gaming Revenues was 24.1% and 24.4% for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 respectively, in line with expectations.
Service revenues increased by approximately $0.4 million or 183.6%. This is primarily due to; (i) revenues generated by USB operations of approximately $0.3 million and (ii) a general increase in our other service-based revenues across our platform companies. This revenue remains insignificant to total revenues during the periods presented.
Selling expenses
We incurred selling expenses of approximately $6.9 million and $6.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $0.9 million or 13.5%. Selling expenses are commissions that are paid to our sales agents as a percentage of turnover (handle) and are not affected by the winnings that are paid out. Therefore, increases in turnover (handle), will typically result in increases in selling expenses but may not result in increases in overall revenue if winnings/payouts, that are subject to the unknown outcome of sports events that we have no control over, are very high. The percentage of selling expenses to turnover increased to 4.1% compared to 3.7% for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The increase is primarily due to commissions paid to new land based locations as part of our marketing efforts.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were approximately $5.8 million and $5.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $0.7 million or 14.5%. The increase over the prior year is attributable to the following: (i) an increase in personnel costs of $1.2 million, which includes an increase in stock based compensation expense of approximately $1.4 million, resulting in a net decrease in personnel costs, excluding stock based compensation expense, of approximately $0.2 million, which is in line with our mandate to reduce operating expenditure. The increase in stock based compensation of approximately $1.4 million is primarily due to the issuance of restricted stock to key management as an incentive for reducing operating expenditure in terms of our mandate; and (ii) an increase in foreign exchange gain of approximately $0.2 million, predominantly at corporate level, based on the strength of the U.S. dollar to the Euro during the current period. The balance of the decrease of approximately $0.5 million consists of numerous individually insignificant expenses that have been managed by operational management in terms of our mandate to reduce operating expenditure.
Loss from Operations
The loss from operations was approximately $3.1 million and $3.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021. The increase in revenue was offset by an increase in selling expenses and general and administrative expenses, of which approximately $1.4 million was non-cash compensation expense.
Other income
Other income was approximately $0.02 million and $0.07 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, a decrease of approximately $0.05 million or 71.4%. Other income includes additional Covid relief funds received in Ulisse during the prior period.
Other expense
Other expense was approximately $0.04 million and $0 for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $0.04 million, the amount is immaterial.
Interest Expense, Net of Interest Income
Interest expense was approximately $0.009 million and $0.004 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $0.005. The amount is immaterial.
Change in fair value of contingent purchase consideration
Change in fair value of contingent purchase consideration was approximately $0.5 million and $0.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, a decrease of approximately $0.1 million. The decrease is due to the prior year reduction in the estimated contingent purchase consideration due on the acquisition of USB of approximately $11.9 million, thereby reducing the future accretion expense associated with the present value of the contingent purchase consideration.
(Loss) gain on Marketable Securities
The loss on marketable securities was approximately $0.05 million and $0.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, a decrease of approximately $0.15 million or 75.0%. The losses and gains on marketable securities is directly related to the stock price inflationof our investment in Zoompass which is marked-to-market each quarter. The shares in Zoompass were acquired by the Company as settlement of a litigation matter, we have no influence over the performance of Zoompass.
Loss Before Income Taxes
Loss before income taxes was approximately $3.7 million and $3.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, a decrease of approximately $0.1 million or 2.6%. The loss from operations was stable at approximately $3.1 million, as discussed above, the decrease in loss before income taxes is related to other expenses and income and is primarily due to the reduction in the contingent purchase consideration charge and the reduction in the loss on marketable securities.
Income Tax Provision
The income tax provision was a charge of approximately $(0.2) million and a credit of approximately $0.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $0.5 million or 166.7%. The prior period credit was due to a reduction in profitability in our Multigioco and Odissea operations in the third quarter of the prior year resulting in reversal of the tax provision raised in the previous quarters. During the current period, the operations of Multigioco have improved substantially, resulting in an increase in the income tax provision.
Net Loss
Net loss was approximately $3.8 million and $3.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $0.3 million or 8.6% due to the decrease in loss before income taxes, offset by the increase in income tax provision, discussed above.
Comprehensive Loss
Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar while the functional currency of our Italian, Maltese and Austrian subsidiaries is the Euro, the functional currency of our Canadian subsidiary is the Canadian Dollar and the functional currency of our Colombian operation is the Colombian Peso. The financial statements of our subsidiaries are translated into United States dollars in accordance with ASC 830, using year-end rates of exchange for assets and liabilities, and average rates of exchange for the period for revenues, costs, and expenses and historical rates for equity. Translation adjustments resulting from the process of translating the local currency financial statements into U.S. dollars are included in determining other comprehensive income.
We recorded a foreign currency translation loss of approximately $0.4 million and $0.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, primarily due to the strengthening of the US Dollar against the Euro over both reporting periods.
Results of Operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and the nine months ended September 30, 2021
Revenues
The following table represents disaggregated revenues from our gaming operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021. Net Gaming Revenues represents Turnover (also referred to as “Handle”), the total bets processed for the period, less customer winnings paid out, and taxes due to government authorities, while Service Revenues represents revenue invoiced for our Elys software service and royalties invoiced for the sale of virtual products.
Nine Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||
September 30, 2022 | September 30, 2021 | Increase (decrease) | Percentage change | |||||||||||||
Turnover | ||||||||||||||||
Turnover web-based | $ | 565,785,709 | $ | 613,678,568 | $ | (47,892,859 | ) | (7.8 | )% | |||||||
Turnover land-based | 6,528,054 | 13,237,738 | (6,709,684 | ) | (50.7 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Turnover | 572,313,763 | 626,916,306 | (54,602,543 | ) | (8.7 | )% | ||||||||||
Winnings/Payouts | ||||||||||||||||
Winnings web-based | 527,323,323 | 572,975,466 | (45,652,143 | ) | (8.0 | % | ||||||||||
Winnings land-based | 5,166,387 | 11,362,524 | (6,196,137 | ) | (54.5 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Winnings/payouts | 532,489,710 | 584,337,990 | (51,848,280 | ) | (8.9 | )% | ||||||||||
Gross Gaming Revenues | ||||||||||||||||
Web-Based | 38,462,386 | 40,703,102 | (2,240,716 | ) | (5.5 | )% | ||||||||||
Land-Based | 1,361,667 | 1,875,214 | (513,547 | ) | (27.4 | )% | ||||||||||
39,824,053 | 42,578,316 | (2,754,263 | ) | (6.5 | )% | |||||||||||
Less: ADM Gaming Taxes | 9,671,040 | 9,129,881 | 541,159 | (5.9 | )% | |||||||||||
Net Gaming Revenues | 30,153,013 | 33,448,435 | (3,295,422 | ) | (9.9 | )% | ||||||||||
Add: Service Revenues | 2,022,002 | 428,924 | 1,593,078 | 371,4 | % | |||||||||||
Total Revenues | $ | 32,175,015 | $ | 33,877,359 | $ | (1,702,344 | ) | (5.0 | )% |
The change in turnover (handle) is primarily due to the following:
Web-based turnover
For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, all of our web-based turnover was generated by Multigioco after the closure of our Ulisse CTD operations in the second quarter of the prior year. As a result, Multigioco turnover for the nine months ended September 30,2022 increased €46.9 million or 9.7% compared to Ulisse turnover of €28.7 million in the prior period, overall turnover increased by €18.2 million from €512.8 million to €531.0 million or 3.5% for the nine months ended September 30,2022 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2021. The strengthening of the average U.S. Dollar exchange rate against the Euro during the current year had an adverse foreign currency impact of approximately $67.2 million or 11.0% for the nine months ended September 30,2022 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2021. Our reported US Dollar web-based turnover decreased by $47.9 million from $613.7 million to $565.8 million or 7.8% for the nine months ended September 30,2022 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2021. The softening of COVID restrictions in Italy has also driven some web-based turnover to the land-based channel, and despite this effect, we managed to grow web-based turnover due to market share growth in Italy. The percentage of payouts on web-based turnover improved slightly to 93.2% from 93.4% for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 respectively.
Land-based turnover
During the nine months ended September 30, 2022, we activated approximately 30 new land-based locations in Multigioco with recently acquired operating rights. As a result, Multigioco turnover increased by €4.9 million, offsetting the decrease of €9.8 million in prior period turnover from Ulisse which was closed in the second quarter of the prior year. The strengthening of the average U.S. Dollar when comparing the nine months ended September 30,2022 to the nine months ended September 30, 2021 exchange rate against the Euro during the current year had an adverse foreign currency impact of approximately $1.5 million or 11.0%. Our Euro land-based turnover decreased by €4.9 million from €11.0 million to €6.1 million or 44.6% for the nine
months ended September 30, 2022 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2021, however the decrease in turnover in US Dollars was $6.7 million. The softening of COVID restrictions during the current year resulted in more walk-in patrons frequenting our land-based locations and we expect this revenue to continue increasing as the remaining 70 land-based locations from our recently acquired operating rights are rolled out. The percentage of payouts on land-based turnover improved to 79.1% from 85.8% for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 respectively.
The turnover mix impacts our Gross Gaming Revenue (“GGR”). Our turnover for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 is as follows: sports betting turnover represented 19.5% (September 30, 2021 – 22.7%); casino style games represented 79.7% (September 30, 2021 – 76.4%); and other was 0.8% (September 30, 2021 – 0.9%). The margin earned on our sports book averaged 17.9% (September 30, 2021 – 15.7%) and our casino style games averaged 4.4% (September 30, 2021 – 4.2%), resulting in a blended GGR of 7.0% (September 30, 2021 – 6.8%). The shift towards lower margin casino type products during the current period was offset by the higher margin earned on the sports book during the current period.
Gaming taxes increased by approximately $0.5 million or 5.9%. The relative rate of our gaming taxes, which is based on Gross Gaming Revenues was 24.3% and 21.1% for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 respectively. The increase is attributable to the shift of our gaming business to Multigioco which has an average gaming tax of approximately 24.5% compared to Ulisse, which was discontinued in the prior year, with a significantly lower tax rate due to its incorporation being situated outside of Italy.
The impact of the strengthening of the U.S Dollar against the Euro by approximately 11.0% during the nine months ended September 30, 2022, was approximately $3.7 million. The increase in GGR in Euro was €0.4 million compared to a decrease in U.S. Dollar GGR of $3.3 million.
Service revenues increased by approximately $1.6 million or 371.4%. This is primarily due to; (i) revenues generated by USB operations of approximately $0.8 million and (ii) a general increase in our other service-based revenues across our platform companies. This revenue remains insignificant to total revenues during the periods presented.
Selling expenses
We incurred selling expenses of approximately $24.0 million and $26.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, a decrease of approximately $2.3 million or 8.8%. Selling expenses are commissions that are paid to our sales agents as a percentage of turnover (handle) and are not affected by the winnings that are paid out. Therefore, increases in turnover (handle), will typically result in increases in selling expenses but may not result in increases in overall revenue if winnings/payouts, that are subject to the unknown outcome of sports events that we have no control over, are very high. The percentage of selling expenses to turnover was 4.2% and 4.3% for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were approximately $15.6 million and $14.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $1.6 million or 11.5%. The increase over the prior year is attributable to the following: (i) an increase in personnel costs of approximately $2.8 million, primarily due to the acquisition of USB in July 2021, resulting in an increase in payroll costs of approximately $0.9 million; and the increase in stock based compensation by approximately $2.0 million primarily due to the issuance of restricted stock to key management as an incentive for reducing operating expenditure in terms of our mandate and the periodic amortization expense of options granted to senior management during the second half of the prior year and the current period; (ii) an increase in depreciation and amortization expense of approximately $0.4 million primarily due to the amortization of intangibles on the acquisition of USB; (iii) offset by an exchange gain of approximately $0.4 million predominantly at corporate level, based on the strength of the U.S. dollar to the Euro during the current period; (iv) a decrease in professional fees of approximately $0.1 million, primarily due to reductions in legal fees incurred on licensing, acquisitions and corporate restructuring; (v) a reduction in investor relations expense of approximately $0.3 million and (vi) a decrease in platform and IT related services of approximately $0.5 million due to the restructuring of our Italian operations with the closure of Ulisse. The balance of the decrease of approximately $0.3 million consists of numerous individually insignificant expenses that have reduced in line with our mandate to reduce operating expenditure.
Restructuring and severance expenses
Restructuring and severance expenses was approximately $1.2 million and $0 for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. As mentioned above, management has embarked on a cost reduction exercise, streamlining operations and eliminating duplicated effort wherever possible, ensuring that management is lean and efficient. We eliminated a senior role within the corporate office resulting in a severance expense of approximately $0.4 million and an acceleration of a non-cash stock based compensation charge of approximately $0.75 million, for an immediate vesting of options.
Loss from Operations
The loss from operations was approximately $8.6 million and $6.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $2.2 million or 34.4%. The decrease in revenue of approximately $1.7 million, primarily due to the strength of the U.S Dollar against the euro, impacting revenue by approximately $3.7 million, the decrease in selling expenses of approximately $2.3 million, offset by the increase in general and administrative expenses of approximately $1.6 million, primarily due to restricted stock awarded to management for reducing operating expenditure in terms of our mandate, and the severance and restructuring expense of approximately $1.2 million.
Other income
Other income was approximately $0.09 million and $0.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, a decrease of approximately $0.31 million or 77.5%. In the prior year, other income included a COVID tax credit of approximately $0.09 million received from the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (“ADM”) for taxes previously charged and approximately $0.2 million of COVID relief funds received by Ulisse during the prior period.
Other expense
Other expense was approximately $0.06 million and $0.03 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $0.03 million or 100.0%. This amount is immaterial.
Interest Expense, Net of Interest Income
Interest expense was approximately $0.02 million and $0.01 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $0.01 million or 100.0%. The increase is primarily due to interest calculated on funds advanced by Mr. Salerno to USB, which are subject to dispute.
Change in fair value of contingent purchase consideration
Change in fair value of contingent purchase consideration was approximately $1.4 million and $0.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $0.8 million. The change in fair value of contingent purchase consideration is the accretion expense associated with the present value of contingent purchase consideration due on the acquisition of USB. The charge in the prior period represents accretion expense for three months, the current period represents a nine month period.
(Loss) gain on Marketable Securities
The gain on marketable securities was approximately $0.04 million and the loss on marketable securities was approximately $(0.3) million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $0.34 million or 113.3%. The losses and gains on marketable securities is directly related to the stock price of our investment in Zoompass which is marked-to-market each quarter. The shares in Zoompass were acquired by the Company as settlement of a litigation matter, we have no influence over the performance of Zoompass.
Loss Before Income Taxes
Loss before income taxes was approximately $10.0 million and $6.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $3.1 million or 44.9%. The increase is primarily due to the severance and restructuring expense of approximately $1.2 million and the increase in payroll expenses, primarily related to non-cash restricted stock expense of approximately $1.6 million, refer to General and administrative expenses above.
Income Tax Provision
The income tax provision was a charge of approximately $(0.2) million and a credit of approximately $0.01 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, an increase of approximately $0.21 million. The increase in income tax provision is due to the profitability of our Italian subsidiary, Multigioco during the current period.
Net Loss
Net loss was approximately $10.2 million and $6.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, an increase of approximately $3.3 million or 47.8% due to the increase in loss before income taxes and the increase in income tax provision, discussed above.
Comprehensive Loss
Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar while the functional currency of our Italian, Maltese and Austrian subsidiaries is the Euro, the functional currency of our Canadian subsidiary is the Canadian Dollar and the functional currency of our Colombian operation is the Colombian Peso. The financial statements of our subsidiaries are translated into United States dollars in accordance with ASC 830, using year-end rates of exchange for assets and liabilities, and average rates of exchange for the period for revenues, costs, and expenses and historical rates for equity. Translation adjustments resulting from the process of translating the local currency financial statements into U.S. dollars are included in determining other comprehensive income.
We recorded a foreign currency translation loss of approximately $0.9 million and $0.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, primarily due to the strengthening of the US Dollar against the Euro during the current period.
Results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020.
The comparisons below include a discussion of our operations for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, which includes the results of operations of US Bookmaking subsequent to its acquisition on July 31, 2021.
Revenues
The following table represents disaggregated revenues from our gaming operations for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. Net Gaming Revenues represents turnover (also referred to as “handle”), the total bets processed for the period, less customer winnings paid out, commissions paid to agents, and taxes due to government authorities. Commission and service revenues represent commissions on lotto ticket sales and revenue invoiced for our Platform service and royalties invoiced for the sale of virtual products.
Years Ended | ||||||||||||||||
December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | Increase/ (decrease) | Percentage change | |||||||||||||
Turnover | ||||||||||||||||
Web-based | $ | 826,789,619 | $ | 505,369,803 | $ | 321,419,816 | 63.6 | % | ||||||||
Land-based | 15,071,218 | 68,888,592 | (53,817,374 | ) | (78.1 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Turnover | 841,860,837 | 574,258,395 | 267,602,442 | 46.6 | % | |||||||||||
Winnings/Payouts | ||||||||||||||||
Winnings web-based | 771,852,252 | 473,794,175 | 298,058,077 | 62.9 | % | |||||||||||
Winnings land-based | 12,842,577 | 56,467,865 | (43,625,288 | ) | (77.3 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Winnings/payouts | 784,694,829 | 530,262,040 | 254,432,789 | 48.0 | % | |||||||||||
Gross Gaming Revenues | 57,166,008 | 43,996,355 | 13,169,653 | 29.9 | % | |||||||||||
Less: Gaming Taxes | 12,657,930 | 6,874,752 | 5,783,178 | 84.1 | % | |||||||||||
Net Gaming Revenues | 44,508,078 | 37,121,603 | 7,386,475 | 19.9 | % | |||||||||||
Betting platform software and services | 1,038,713 | 144,764 | 893,949 | 617.5 | % | |||||||||||
Total Revenues | $ | 45,546,791 | $ | 37,266,367 | $ | 8,280,424 | 22.2 | % |
The Company generated total revenues of $45,546,791 and $37,266,367 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, an increase of $8,280,424 or 22.2%.
The change in total revenues is primarily due to the following:
Web-based turnover increased by $321,419,816 or 63.6%. The increase was due to the significant number of new online players while the physical betting shops were closed for a significant portion of the current year, only re-opening on June 14, 2021 due to the pandemic. The increase over the prior year was impacted by the temporary shutdown of betting shops in Italy on March 8, 2020 due to COVID-19. This trend has continued with more people relying on using web based platforms to place wagers. The ratio of payouts on online turnover improved from 93.8% in the prior year to 93.4% in the current year. The payout ratio varies based on the skill and luck of our customers and the outcome of sporting events which are inherently unpredictable and can fluctuate significantly from period to period.
Land-based turnover decreased by $53,817,374 or 78.1%. The decrease over the prior period was impacted by the shutdown of betting shops in Italy that started on March 8, 2020 due to COVID-19 and the majority of which were effectively terminated on June 14, 2021. The impact was significant for both our Ulisse operation, which ceased operations in Italy in June 2021 and our Multigioco land-based operation, which impact was offset by increased online based gaming in both Multigioco and Ulisse during the period January to June 2021. The ratio of payouts on land-based turnover deteriorated to 85.2% in the current year from 82.0% in the prior year. The payout ratio varies based on the skill and luck of our customers and the outcome of sporting events which are inherently unpredictable and can fluctuate significantly from period to period.
Disaggregated sportsbook hold decreased to 15.7% from 18.9% of handle for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, a decrease of 3.2 percentage points in sportsbook hold while our casino style game hold increased to 4.2% from 3.8% for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, an increase of 0.4 percentage points. The blended hold decreased to 6.8% from 7.7% for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points. The decrease in sports betting hold had an overall negative impact on our overall gross gaming revenue. The shift towards growing our online channel, with higher pay-out casino games and lower margin poker rake, resulted in an overall decrease in blended conversion of turnover to revenue.
Gaming taxes increased by $5,783,178 or 84.1% over the prior year. The relative rate of our gaming taxes, which is based on Gross Gaming Revenues, of 22.2% for the year ended December 31, 2021 is significantly higher than the 15.6% for the year ended December 31, 2020, respectively, and is primarily due to the mix of our Gross Gaming revenues shifting to Multigioco which has an average gaming tax of approximately 24.4% compared to Ulisse with a significantly lower tax rate due to its incorporation being situated outside of Italy. The increase in taxes is due to the shift of Ulisse business to Multigioco with effect from June 2021.
Service revenues increased by $893,949 or 617.5%. This is predominantly due to revenues generated by our Colombian operations and our newly acquired US Bookmaking operations. Our Platform services customer base is currently limited primarily to services provided to external US and international retail customers and internal group operations of Multigioco, Ulisse and Virtual Generation. This revenue remains insignificant to total revenues during the periods presented.
Selling expenses
We incurred selling expenses of $36,274,752 and $26,109,221 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, an increase of $10,165,531 or 38.9%. Selling expenses are commissions that are paid to our sales agents and are directly tied to handle (turnover) as they are based on a percentage of handle (turnover) and are not affected by the winnings that are paid. Therefore, increases in handle, will typically result in increases in selling expenses but may not result in increases in overall revenue if winnings/payouts, that are subject to the unknown outcome of sports events over which we have no control, are very high. Due to a concerted effort to manage the rates at which we agree to pay commissions to selling agents, based on a 46.6% increase in turnover during the year ended December 31, 2021, our percentage of selling expenses to turnover was approximately 4.3%, compared to 4.5% for the year ended December 31, 2020.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were $18,817,959 and $13,789,391 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, an increase of $5,028,568 or 36.5%. The increase in general and administrative is due to the following:
(i) | Personnel costs were $6,846,226 and $4,815,047 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, an increase of $2,031,179 or 42.2%. This included the addition of personnel costs in US Bookmaking of $373,831, an increase in salary expenses of approximately $1,657,348, primarily due to; (i) the increase in personnel at corporate level associated with our expansion into the U.S. market, including the head of special projects, head of corporate affairs and salary increases to our CEO in line with market related salaries; and (ii) an increase in the headcount of our development personnel in our European operations. |
(ii) | Stock based compensation expense was $1,845,019 and $518,506 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, an increase of $1,326,513 or 255.8%. The increase is primarily due to the issuance of 1,193,500 options during the current year and the amortization expense associated with these options and the 648,000 options issued to our head of special projects during the last quarter of 2020. |
(iii) | Platform related fees were $2,799,473 and $2,060,132 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, an increase of $739,341 or 35.9%, this is primarily due to the increase in turnover of 46.6%, a portion of our platform fees is linked to turnover. |
(iv) | Professional fees were $2,496,045 and $1,316,272 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, an increase of $1,179,773 or 89.6%. the increase is primarily due to legal fees associated with absorbing the Ulisse business into Multigioco and fees associated with licensing the Elys platform in the first U.S. state during the current year, as well as licensing and administrative consultants associated with the launch into the US market. |
(v) | The remaining decrease of $248,238 consists of several individually immaterial expense items. |
Impairment of indefinite lived assets and goodwill
Impairment of indefinite lived assets and goodwill was $17,350,628 and $4,900,000 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. We evaluated our long-lived assets for impairment in terms of ASC 350 and determined that an impairment charge of the remaining value of our Ulisse bookmakers license was appropriate of $4,827,914 as we have decided to concentrate a significant amount of our efforts on developing the U.S. market. In addition, we considered the fair value of purchased goodwill on the acquisition of US Bookmaking in terms of ASC 360, and determined that, based on management’s revised future projections that an impairment charge of $12,522,714 was appropriate. In the prior year we impaired the Ulisse bookmakers license by $4,900,000 in terms of an ASC 350 evaluation.
As discussed below under contingent purchase consideration, management recently reviewed the future revenue and profit projections of US Bookmaking based on the forecasts provided by the vendors at the time of performing the business valuation, factoring in the ability to source new customers. The customer acquisition process has proven to take longer than expected with a resultant downward revision of new customers acquired over the forecast period and the resultant downward impact on forecasted revenue streams. We reviewed the forecasts and made appropriate adjustments based on our current understanding of the addressable market, the growth rates forecast by third party market analysts, our expected share of revenue and the expectation of how many new clients we would realistically be able to add over the forecast period. Management is currently forecasting expected discounted cash flows over the forecast period to be approximately 40% lower than originally estimated. This has a significant impact on our current valuation of US Bookmaking, resulting in a goodwill impairment charge of approximately $12,522,714.
Loss from Operations
The loss from operations was $26,896,548 and $7,532,245 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, an increase of $19,364,303 or 257.1%. The increase in loss from operations is primarily due to the following: (i) the impairment of the Ulisse license of $4,827,914 and the impairment of the Goodwill on the acquisition of US Bookmaking of $12,522,714; (ii) an increase of $10,165,531 in selling expenses, which are based on turnover that had increased by 46.6% and (iii) an increase in U.S. corporate related expenses as we increased the size of our operation and personnel to enter into the U.S. market.
Interest Expense, Net of Interest Income
Interest expense was $20,985 and $328,663 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, a decrease of $307,678 or 93.6%. The decrease is primarily related to the conversion of convertible debentures into equity, primarily in the prior year period. Interest during the current year represents minor interest on the remaining debenture and other bank loans and related party payables.
Amortization of debt discount
Amortization of debt discount was $12,833 and $818,182 for the years ended December 31, 20210 and 2020, respectively, a decrease of $805,349 or 98.4%. The decrease is primarily due to the conversion of convertible debentures into equity, primarily in the prior period, resulting in accelerated amortization and the maturity of the convertible notes in May 2020.
Change in fair value of contingent purchase consideration
Change in fair value of contingent purchase consideration was $11,857,558 and $0 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, a decrease of $11,857,558. The change in fair value of contingent purchase consideration includes the reevaluation of the fair value of contingent purchase consideration on the acquisition of US Bookmaking.
Contingent purchase consideration on the acquisition of US bookmaking is due to the vendors for the years ended December 31, 2022 to December 31, 2025. The basis for determining contingent purchase consideration at each reporting period is based on cumulative EBITDA for the period July 15, 2021 to December 31, 2025, with the first measurement period being December 31, 2022. The forecasts provided by the vendors at the time of performing the business valuation was based on achieving a certain number of new customers on an annual basis. The customer acquisition process has proven to take longer than expected with a resultant impact on forecasted revenue streams over the contingent earnout period. Management revised its estimated revenues during January 2022. These forecasts were reviewed and adjusted to ensure they appeared reasonable based on our current understanding of addressable market, the growth rates forecast by third party market analysts, our expected share of revenue and the expectation of how many new clients we would realistically be able to add in a fiscal period. The most significant impact on the contingent purchase consideration is expected to be in the 2022 fiscal year, where we currently forecast that no contingent purchase consideration will be payable. This has a knock-on effect on the future 2023 to 2024 fiscal periods as the calculation of contingent purchase consideration is based on cumulative EBITDA.
Other income
Other income was $227,788 and $165,375 for years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, an increase of $62,413 or 37.7%. Other income included approximately $201,171 of Covid relief funds received by Odissea during the current year.
Other expense
Other expense was $49,967 and $86,933 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, a decrease of $36,966 or 42.5%. Other expense represents several individually insignificant amounts such as minor fines and penalties and non-operational commitments not related to operations, expensed during the year.
Loss on extinguishment of convertible debt
The loss on extinguishment of convertible debt was $0 and $719,390 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, a decrease of $719,390 or 100%. In May 2020, we issued additional warrants to certain debenture holders who agreed to extend the maturity date of their debentures by between 90 and 120 days to allow us to complete a fund raising exercise resulting in a non-cash charge of $719,390. These warrants were valued using a Black-Scholes valuation model that were recorded as a discount against the gross value of the convertible debentures with the following assumptions: no dividend yield, expected volatility of between 139.5% and 183.5%, risk free interest rate between 0.16% and 0.19% and warrant life of approximately 2 - 3 years.
(Loss) gain on Marketable Securities
The loss on marketable securities was $460,000 and the gain on marketable securities was $290,000 for the years ended December 31, 2021, and 2020, respectively, a decrease of $750,000 or 258.6%. The gain and loss on marketable securities is directly related to the stock price of our investment in Zoompass which is marked-to-market each period. The shares in Zoompass were acquired by the Company as settlement of the litigation matter.
Loss Before Income Taxes
Loss before income taxes was $15,354,987 and $9,030,038 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, an increase of $6,324,949 or 70.0%. The increase is primarily attributable to the increase in the loss from operations, including the impairment of indefinite lived assets and goodwill, and the loss on marketable securities, as discussed above, offset by the change in the fair value of contingent purchase consideration, a decrease in interest expense and a decrease in the amortization of debt discount, as discussed above.
Income Tax Provision
The income tax provision was a credit of $290,476 and a charge of $906,644 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, a decrease of $1,197,120 or 132.0%. The decrease is attributable to deferred tax movements on imputed goodwill charges and the reversal of a tax charge from prior years related to commissions not recognized as an expense in the prior year.
Net Loss
Net loss was $15,064,511 and $9,936,682 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, an increase of $5,127,829 or 51.6%, due to the reasons discussed above.
Comprehensive Loss
Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar while the functional currency of our subsidies is the Euro, the local currency in Italy and Austria, the functional currency of our Canadian subsidiary is the Canadian dollar and the functional currency of our Colombian operations is the Colombian Peso. The financial statements of our subsidiaries are translated into United States dollars in accordance with ASC 830, using year-end rates of exchange for assets and liabilities, and average rates of exchange for the period for revenues, costs, and expenses and historical rates for equity. Translation adjustments resulting from the process of translating the local currency financial statements into U.S. dollars are included in determining other comprehensive income.
We recorded a foreign currency translation loss of $519,031 and a foreign currency translation gain of $444,665 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our principal cash requirements have included the funding of acquisitions, repayments of convertible debt and deferred purchase consideration, the purchase of plant and equipment, and working capital needs. Working capital needs generally result from expenses incurred in developing our gaming platform for the various markets we operate in and new markets we are developing as well as our intention to aggressively expand into the US market.
We finance our business primarily though debt and equity placements and cash generated from operations. Our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations is dependent on the continued demand for our gaming services we offer to our customers through our land based and web based locations as well as the gaming platforms we license to third parties.
We finance our business to provide adequate funding for at least 12 months, based on forecasted profitability and working capital needs, and in the future, we anticipate that we would need to raise additional cash through equity or debt funding.
To date, we financed our business primarily though debt and equity placements and cash generated from operations. We have financed our business from the sale of shares of our common stock pursuant to the terms of the Open Market Sales AgreementSM that we entered into with Jefferies LLC on November 19, 2021, and a registered direct offering and concurrent private placement with an investor that closed on June 15, 2022.
Between March 28, 2022 and April 13, 2022, we sold 168,016 shares of common stock for gross proceeds of $0.4 million, less brokerage fees of $0.01 million pursuant to the Open Market Sales AgreementSM that we entered into with Jefferies LLC on November 19, 2021.
On June 13, 2022, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with a single investor (the “investor”) whereby we issued an aggregate of 2,625,000 shares of our common stock and pre-funded warrants to purchase 541,227 shares of common stock in a registered direct offering, in addition we issued a warrant for 3,166,227 shares of common stock, exercisable at $0.9475 per share with a maturity date of December 15, 2027, to the Investor in a concurrent private placement. The registered direct offering and concurrent private placement closed on June 15, 2022. The gross proceeds from the offering were approximately $3.0 million and the net proceeds from the offering were approximately $2.6 million after deducting certain fees due to the Placement Agent and our estimated transaction expenses.
Our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations is dependent on the continued demand for our gaming services we offer to our customers through our land based and web based locations as well as the gaming platforms we license to third parties.
Based on our forecasts, we believe that we will have to source additional funding through either debt or equity funding, if such debt or equity is available at terms that are acceptable to us, if at all, to continue executing on our growth plan and to continue operating for the next twelve months from the date of filing this report. We plan to continue our expansion plans in both the U.S. and Italian markets at a rate of growth that we believe is sustainable and achievable by us.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our Italian based operations, we have seen a shift towards web-based turnover (Handle) from our land-based turnover with the permanent closure of our Ulisse betting shop locations. The percentage Hold or Gross Gaming Revenue generated from our turnover is typically lower on web-based business which generally favors more casino type gaming at lower margins, as discussed above.
Assets
At September 30, 2022, we had total assets of approximately $42.6 million and $44.6 million at December 31, 2021, a decrease of $2.0 million. The decrease is primarily due to a decrease in cash balances of approximately $2.6 million, a decrease in gaming receivables of approximately $1.3 million, offset by an increase in prepaid expenditure of approximately $2.0 million, primarily related to prepaid software development expenses for the US market, the increase in right of use assets of $0.7 million related to the new property leases entered into by Multigioco and the decrease in intangibles of $1.2 million due to the amortization of these intangibles. The balance of the movement is made up of several individually insignificant asset movements.
At December 31, 2021, we had total assets of $44,578,841 compared to total assets of $35,857,979 on December 31, 2020. The increase of $8,720,862 is primarily related to the increase in Goodwill of $14,501,217 after impairment charges of $12,522,714 on the acquisition of US Bookmaking, the impairment charge was due to a revision on the timing of management’s expected profitability over the earnout period. An increase in intangible assets of $5,299,979 due to the acquisition of US Bookmaking and included non-compete agreements, tradenames and customer relationships. A reduction in cash balances and restricted cash balances of $12,338,412 primarily due to the cash paid in the acquisition of US Bookmaking of $5,973,839, the cash used in operation of $7,553,511, predominantly from U.S. operations, which included the funding of expenses related to the setup of U.S. operations, including consultants and legal expenses related to licensing activities and the absorption of cash in Ulisse as it wound down its operations and settled its outstanding liabilities, including accounts payable, gaming payables and tax liabilities, offset by net proceeds from financing activities of $2,857,084, which included proceeds from warrants exercised of $3,962,482 and the repayment of the bank line of credit of $500,000 and deferred purchase consideration of $410,383.
Liabilities
At September 30, 2022, we had approximately $28.4 million and $26.8 million in total liabilities at December 31, 2021. The increase of $1.6 million is primarily attributable to an increase in contingent purchase consideration of $1.4 million due to accretion expense related to the present value discount of the contingent purchase consideration, an increase in operating lease liabilities of $0.7 million, an increase in equipment funding by related parties of $0.4 million and an increase in related party promissory notes of $0.3 million advanced by Mr. Salerno, offset by a decrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities of approximately $1.6 million, primarily due to the concerted effort to reduce expenditure and the payment of several significant corporate legal bills during the current period.
At December 31, 2021, we had total liabilities of $26,837,324 compared to $15,701,626 on December 31, 2020. The increase of $11,135,698 is primarily due to the Contingent Purchase Consideration of $12,859,399 which was fair valued during the current period based on management’s revised estimate of the profitability of US Bookmaking, an increase in the deferred tax liability of $2,069,465, a decrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities of $1,140,867 and a decrease of $474,463 in Gaming Payables, primarily due to the winding down of Ulisse operations and the repayment of longer outstanding liabilities at corporate level, a reduction in tax liabilities of $899,071 due to the lower profitability of our European operations this year, in particular, the winding down of Ulisse operations, and the repayment of the $500,000 bank line of credit.
Working Capital
We had $4,690,034 in cash and cash equivalents on September 30, 2022 compared to $7,319,765 in cash and cash equivalents on December 31, 2021.
We had a working capital surplus of $528,062 as of September 30, 2022 compared to $1,556,306 as of December 31, 2021.
We continue to embark on an aggressive roll out of our operation in the U.S. market over the next twenty-four months and anticipate that we will need cash of approximately $10 million to $15 million to execute this successfully and to fund our increasing working capital requirements. We believe that we will need to raise additional cash resources either from equity markets or from debt funding during the near term as our existing cash resources together with the revenue from operations will not be sufficient to fund existing operations over the next twelve months from the date hereof. Historically, we have primarily financed our operations through revenue generated from providing online and land-based gaming products, services, and Platform services in Italy and the sales of our securities and we expect to continue to seek to obtain required capital in a similar manner. Recently, we have spent, and expect to continue to spend, a substantial amount of funds in connection with our expansion strategy.
Accumulated Deficit
As of September 30, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of ($58,436,142) compared to an accumulated deficit of $48,243,028 on December 31, 2021.
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Net cash used in operating activities was approximately $4.6 million and $5.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, a decrease of approximately $0.7 million. The decrease in cash used in operating activities is primarily due to the increase in operating loss of approximately $3.3 million as discussed under results of operations above, offset by an increase in non-cash movements of approximately $3.8 million, primarily due to an increase in the movement in stock based compensation expense of approximately $1.1 million, including the accelerated amortization of stock options granted to a severed executive whose options vested immediately and the increase in restricted stock awards of $1.9 million for awards to management for reducing operating expenditure in terms of our mandate, the movement in the change in the fair value of contingent purchase consideration of approximately $0.8 million, due to the accretion expense expected on the USB earnout, and the increase in the movement of depreciation and amortization of approximately $0.4 million, primarily due the amortization of intangibles on the acquisition of USB.
Cash flows from operating activities resulted in net cash used in operating activities of $7,553,511 and $165,493 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The $(7,388,018) increase in cash used in operating activities is primarily related to; (i) the increase in net loss of $(5,127,829) offset by (ii) a net movement in non-cash items of $1,148,714, including a movement in impairment costs of long-lived assets and goodwill of $12,450,628, an increase in the movement of stock option compensation expense of $1,326,513, an increase in the movement in loss on marketable securities of $750,000, offset by a change in the fair value of contingent purchase consideration of $11,857,558, the decrease in the movement in the loss on extinguishment of debt of $(719,390) and a decrease in the movement on the amortization of debt discount of $805,349; and (iii) an increase in working capital movement of $(3,408,903), primarily due to the decrease in movement of gaming accounts payable of $(1,552,573) and the movement in taxes payable of $(1,445,398), primarily related to the winding down of Ulisse operations, an increase in the movement of the gaming accounts receivable balances of $880,226 due to the increase in business activity at our Multigioco operation, an increase in the movement of prepaid expenses of $534,099, predominantly due to prepaid licensed software for US operations, offset by an increase in accounts payable of $1,585,327, primarily related to an increase in payables balances at our Multigioco operation and an increase in corporate payables due to the expansion activities into the U.S. market taking place at the corporate level.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 was approximately $0.4 million compared to net cash used in investing activities of approximately $6.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. In the prior period we made an initial net cash payment on the acquisition of USB of $6.0 million. During the current period we invested funds in computer related software and hardware predominantly for the U.S. based expansion strategy.
The net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $6,690,919 and $291,501 for the year ended December 31, 2020, the increase over the prior year is primarily due to the acquisition of US Bookmaking amounting to $5,973,839, net of cash balances acquired and the acquisition of property and equipment and intangibles of $717,080, primarily to support the U.S. expansion efforts.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 was approximately $3.7 million compared to approximately $2.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. In the current period, a net amount of approximately $3.1 million was raised from a registered direct offering discussed above, after broker fees and expenses of
approximately $0.4 million, and a further, approximately $0.25 million was raised from ATM sales, we also raised approximately $0.4 million to fund equipment purchases required for expansion into the Ohio market and a further $0.3 million was provided by Mr. Salerno to fund the USB operation. In the prior year net cash provided by financing activities consisted primarily of net proceeds of approximately $4.0 million raised from the exercise of warrants related to the underwritten public offering in August 2020, offset by the repayment of the bank letter of credit of approximately $0.5 million and the payment of deferred purchase consideration of approximately $0.4 million.
Net cash provided by financing activities for the for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $2,857,084 and net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $12,711,416. The cash generated by financing activities during the current year included warrant exercises of $3,962,482, offset by the repayment of the bank line of credit of $500,000 and deferred purchase price payments of $410,383. In the prior year, we raised net proceeds of $8,966,122 in a public offering and further proceeds of $8,541,896 on warrants exercised, a portion of the proceeds were used to repay debentures of $2,778,349 and the bank line of credit of $500,000 as well as deferred purchase price payments of $1,577,010.
Contractual Obligations
Current accounting standards require disclosure of material obligations and commitments to make future payments under contracts, such as debt, lease agreements, and purchase obligations.
The amount of future minimum lease payments under finance leases are as follows:
Amount | ||||||
Remainder of 2022 | $ | 1,810 | ||||
2023 | 6,068 | |||||
2024 | 704 | |||||
8,582 |
The amount of future minimum lease payments under operating leases are as follows:
Amount | ||||||
Remainder of 2022 | $ | 92,278 | ||||
2023 | 334,306 | |||||
2024 | 267,418 | |||||
2025 | 242,980 | |||||
2026 and thereafter | 424,226 | |||||
1,361,208 |
Off-Balance-Sheet Arrangements
We have no off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenue or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources that we expect to be material to investors. We do not have any non-consolidated, special-purpose entities.
Inflation
The uncertain financial markets, disruptions in supply chains, mobility restraints, and changing priorities as well as volatile asset values could impact our business in the near future. The outbreak and government measures taken in response to the pandemic have also had a significant impact, both direct and indirect, on businesses and commerce, as worker shortages have occurred; supply chains have been disrupted; facilities and production have been suspended; and demand for certain goods and services, such as our land based retail locations decreased. The future progression of the pandemic and its effects on our business and operations are uncertain. We may face difficulties recruiting employees because of the outbreak. Further, although we have not experienced any material adverse effects on our business due to increasing inflation, it has raised operating costs for many businesses and, in the future, could impact demand for our services foreign exchange rates or employee wages. We are actively monitoring the effects these disruptions and increasing inflation could have on our operations.
Foreign Exchange
We operate in several foreign countries, including Austria, Italy, Malta, Colombia and Canada and we incur operating expenses and have foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities associated with these operations. Transactions involving our corporate expenditures are generally denominated in U.S. dollars and Canadian dollars while the functional currency of our subsidiaries is in Euro. Convertible debentures have also been issued in both U.S. dollarsEuro and Canadian dollars.Colombian Pesos. Changes and fluctuations in the foreign exchange rate between the EuroU.S. Dollar and the U.S. dollar and theEuro, Canadian dollar and the U.S. dollarColombian Peso will have an effect on our results of operations.
Related Party Transactions
Deferred Purchase consideration, Related Party
During the first and second quarter of the prior year, we paid the remaining balance of €312,500 (approximately $385,121) to related parties in terms of the Virtual Generation promissory note.
The movement on deferred purchase consideration consists of the following:
December 31, 2021 | ||||
Principal Outstanding | ||||
Promissory notes due to related parties | $ | 382,128 | ||
Repayment in cash | (385,121 | ) | ||
Foreign exchange movements | 2,993 | |||
— | ||||
Present value discount on future payments | ||||
Present value discount | (5,174 | ) | ||
Amortization | 5,133 | |||
Foreign exchange movements | 41 | |||
— | ||||
Deferred purchase consideration, net |
Equipment loan - Related Party
On September 26, 2022, the Company entered into an equipment loan agreement with Braydon Capital Corp, for the principal sum of $500,0000 of which an initial advance of $360,000 was received. The loan bears interest at 9% per annum, compounded monthly and is repayable on October 31, 2023. The loan agreement also provides for additional compensation to the lender of 1% of the gross income received from equipment funded by this loan, capped at 2% of the principal sum advanced.
Braydon Capital Corp is managed by Mr. Claudio Ciavarella, the bother of the Chairman of the Board.
The movement on the equipment loan - Related Party, consists of the following:
September 30, 2022 | ||||
Opening balance | — | |||
Loan advanced | $ | 360,000 | ||
Loan repayments | — | |||
Interest accrued | 355 | |||
Closing balance | $ | 360,355 |
Related Party (Payables) Receivables
Related party payables and receivables represent non-interest-bearing (payables) receivables that are due on demand.
The balances outstanding are as follows:
September 30, 2022 | December 31, 2021 | |||||||
Related Party payables | ||||||||
Luca Pasquini | $ | (161 | ) | $ | (502 | ) | ||
Victor Salerno | (374,346 | ) | (51,878 | ) | ||||
$ | (374,507 | ) | $ | (52,380 | ) | |||
Related Party Receivables | ||||||||
Luca Pasquini | $ | — | $ | 1,413 |
Luca Pasquini
On January 31, 2019, the Company acquired Virtual Generation for €4,000,000 (approximately $4,576,352), Mr. Pasquini, who at the time of acquisition was an executive officer and director of the Corporation, was a 20% owner of Virtual Generation and was due gross proceeds of €800,000 (approximately $915,270). The gross proceeds of €800,000 was to be settled by a payment in cash of €500,000 over a twelve month period and by the issuance of common stock valued at €300,000 over an eighteen month period. As of June 30, 2021, the Company has paid Mr. Pasquini the full cash amount of €500,000 (approximately $604,380) and issued 112,521 shares valued at €300,000 (approximately $334,791).
On January 22, 2021, the Company issued Mr. Pasquini 44,968 shares of common stock valued at $257,217, in settlement of accrued compensation due to him.
On July 11, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with Engage IT Services Srl.("Engage"), to provide gaming software and maintenance and support of the system, the total contract price was €390,000 (approximately $459,572), in addition, on October 14, 2021, the Company entered into a further agreement with Engage, to provide gaming software and maintenance and support of the system for a period of 12 months, the total contract price was €1,980,000 (approximately $2,192,000). Mr. Pasquini owns 34% of Engage
On September 13, 2021, Mr. Pasquini, the Company’s Vice President of Technology, resigned as a director of the Company and on October 4, 2021, Mr. Pasquini became the Global Head of Engineering of the Company’s subsidiary Odissea Betriebsinformatik Beratung GmbH and ceased to be Vice President of Technology and an executive officer of the Company.
On September 26, 2022, Mr. Pasquini was awarded 500,000 restricted shares of common stock valued at $226,750.
Michele Ciavarella
Mr. Ciavarella, the Company’s Executive Chairman of the Board, agreed to receive $140,000 of his 2021 fiscal year compensation as a restricted stock award, on January 22, 2021, the Company issued Mr. Ciavarella 24,476 shares of common stock valued at $140,000 on the date of issue.
On January 22, 2021, the Company issued Mr. Ciavarella 175,396 shares of common stock valued at $1,003,265, in settlement of accrued compensation due to him.
On July 15, 2021, Mr. Ciavarella, Executive Chairman of the Company, was appointed as the interim Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company, effective July 15, 2021. Mr. Ciavarella will serve as the Company's Executive Chairman and interim Chief Executive Officer until the earlier of his resignation or removal from office.
Mr. Ciavarella agreed to receive his 2021 bonus and a portion of his 2022 salary as a restricted stock award. On January 7, 2022, the Company issued Mr. Ciavarella 162,835 shares of common stock valued at $425,000 on the date of issue.
On September 26, 2022, Mr. Ciavarella was awarded 300,000 restricted shares of common stock valued at $136,080 for services rendered to the Company.
Carlo Reali
On January 5, 2022, the Company promoted Carlo Reali to the role of Interim Chief Financial Officer.
On March 29, 2022, the Company issued Mr. Reali ten-year options exercisable for 100,000 shares of common stock, at an exercise price of $2.50 per share, vesting equally over a 4 year period commencing on January 1, 2023.
The Company does not have a formal employment or other compensation related agreement with Mr. Reali; however, Mr. Reali will continue to receive the same compensation that he currently receives which is an annual base salary of €76,631 (approximately $83,847).
On September 26, 2022, Mr. Reali was awarded 200,000 restricted shares of common stock valued at $90,720 for services rendered to the Company.
Victor Salerno
On July 15, 2021 the Company consummated the acquisition of USB and in terms of the Purchase Agreement the Company acquired 100% of USB, from its members (the “Sellers”). Mr. Salerno was a 68% owner of USB and received $4,080,000 of the $6,000,000 paid in cash upon closing and 860,760 of the 1,265,823 shares of common stock issued on closing.
Together with the consummation of the acquisition of USB, the Company entered into a 4 year employment agreement with Mr. Salerno terminating on July 14, 2025 (the “Salerno Employment Agreement”), automatically renewable for a period of one year unless notified by either party of non-renewal. The employee will earn an initial base salary of $0 and thereafter $150,000 per annum commencing on January 1, 2022. Mr. Salerno is entitled to bonuses, equity incentives and benefits consistent with those of other senior employees.
Mr. Salerno may be terminated for no cause or resign for good reason, which termination would entitle him to the greater of one year’s salary or the remaining term of the employment agreement plus the highest annual incentive bonus paid to him during the past two years. If Mr. Salerno is terminated for cause he is entitled to all unpaid salary and expenses due to him at the time of termination. If the employment agreement is terminated due to death, his heirs and successors are entitled to all unpaid salary, unpaid expenses and one times his annual base salary. Termination due to disability will result in Mr. Salerno being paid all unpaid salary and expenses and one times annual salary.
Pursuant to the Salerno Employment Agreement, Mr. Salerno has also agreed to customary restrictions with respect to the disclosure and use of the Company’s confidential information and has agreed that work product or inventions developed or conceived by him while employed with the Company relating to its business is the Company’s property. In addition, during the term of his employment and if terminated for cause for the 12 month period following his termination of employment, Mr. Salerno has agreed not to (1) perform services on behalf of a competing business which was the same or similar to the type of services he was authorized, conducted, offered or provided to the Company, (2) solicit or induce any of the Company’s employees or independent contractors to terminate their employment with the Company, (3) solicit any actual or prospective customers with whom he had material contact on behalf of a competing business or (4) solicit any actual or prospective vendors with whom he had material contact to support a competing business.
On September 13, 2021, the Board appointed Mr. Salerno, the President and founder of the Company’s newly acquired subsidiary, USB, to serve as a member of the Board.
Prior to the acquisition of USB, Mr. Salerno had advanced USB $100,000 of which $50,000 was forgiven and the remaining $50,000 is still owing to Mr. Salerno, which amount earns interest at 8% per annum, compounded monthly and is repayable on December 31, 2023.
Between February 23, 2022 and September 22, 2022, Mr. Salerno advanced USB a total of $305,000 in terms of purported promissory notes, bearing interest at 10% per annum and repayable between June 30, 2022 and November 30, 2022. These purported promissory notes contain a default clause whereby any unpaid principal would attract an additional 25% penalty. These notes were advanced to USB without the consent of the Company, which is required as per the terms of the Members Interest Purchase Agreement entered into on July 15, 2021. Therefore the Company acknowledges the advance of funds to USB by Mr. Salerno, however the terms of the advance and the default penalty have not been accepted and are subject to negotiation or dispute. As of September 30, 2022, these notes remain outstanding, interest has been accrued on these notes, however we intend to dispute the validity of these notes and have accordingly not repaid them or accrued penalty interest in terms of these disputed notes.
Paul Sallwasser
On September 13, 2021, the Company granted Mr. Sallwasser ten year options exercisable for 21,300 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $5.10, vesting equally over a twelve month period commencing on September 13, 2021.
Steven Shallcross
On January 22, 2021, the Company issued to Mr. Shallcross, a director of the Company, 5,245 shares of common stock valued at $30,000, in settlement of directors’ fees due to him.
On September 13, 2021, the Company granted Mr. Shallcross ten year options exercisable for 13,600 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $5.10, vesting equally over a twelve month period commencing on September 13, 2021.
Andrea Mandel-Mantello
On June 29, 2021, the Board of Directors of the Company appointed Mr. Mandel-Mantello to serve as a member of the Board. The appointment was effective immediately. Mr. Mandel-Mantello serves on the audit committee of the Board.
On September 13, 2021, the Company granted Mr. Mandel-Mantello ten year options exercisable for 13,600 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $5.10, vesting equally over a twelve month period commencing on September 13, 2021.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Preparation of our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of certain assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, as well as related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. Significant accounting policies are fundamental to understanding our financial condition and results as they require the use of estimates and assumptions which affect the financial statements and accompanying Notes.notes. See Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies of the Notes to the financial statements included in this prospectus for further information.
The critical accounting policies that involved significant estimation included the following:
Impairment of Indefinite Lived Assets and Goodwill
At September 30, 2022, we carried intangible assets in the amount of $14.4 million and goodwill in the amount of $16.2 million and as of December 31, 2022 we carried intangible assets in the amount of $15.6 million and goodwill in the amount of $16.2 as more fully described in Notes 7 and 8 to the financial statements included in this prospectus. The intangible assets and goodwill are allocated between reporting units. We test our goodwill and intangible assets with an indefinite useful life annually for impairment or more frequently if indicators for impairment exist. Impairment for goodwill is determined by comparing the fair value of the respective reporting unit to their carrying amount. For impairment testing of indefinite-lived intangibles. We determine the fair value of the reporting units using an income-based approach which estimates the fair value using a discounted cash flow model. Key assumptions in estimating fair values include projected revenue growth and the weighted average cost of capital. In addition, management recently reviewed the future revenue and profit projections of USB based on the forecasts provided by the vendors at the time of performing the business valuation, which factored in the ability to source new customers. The customer acquisition process has proven to take longer than expected with a resultant downward revision of new customers acquired over the forecast period and the resultant downward impact on forecasted revenue streams. We reviewed the forecasts and made appropriate adjustments based on our current understanding of the addressable market, the growth rates forecast by third party market analysts, our expected share of revenue and the expectation of how many new clients we would realistically be able to add over the forecast period. Since performing this analysis, we have assumed operational management of this entity and are currently assessing the revenues and expenditures associated with the operation, currently we do not believe that further impairment is necessary, however, once we have reviewed the revenue base and improved the operational efficiencies, which we expect to have completed by year end, we will readdress the impairment analysis.
Fair Value of Contingent Consideration
As of September 30, 2022, we carried contingent purchase consideration in the amount of $14.3 million and as of December 31, 2021, we carried contingent purchase consideration in the amount of $12.9 million. The contingent consideration relates to the business combination of US Bookmaking on July 15, 2021. The contingent consideration as more fully described in Note 12 to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 and Note 14 to the audited consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 included in this prospectus. The contingent consideration relates to the business combination of USB on July 15, 2021. The contingent consideration is based upon achievement of certain EBITDA milestones during the next 4 years, payable 50% in cash and 50% in stock, the contingent consideration is up to $41.8 million. At each reporting period, the Company estimates changes in the fair value of the contingent consideration and any change in fair value is recognized in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive (loss) income.
The basis for determining contingent purchase consideration at each reporting period is based on cumulative EBITDA for the period July 15, 2021 to December 31, 2025, with the first measurement period being December 31, 2022. The forecasts provided by the vendors at the time of performing the business valuation was based on achieving a certain number of new customers on an annual basis. The customer acquisition process has proven to take longer than expected with a resultant impact on forecasted revenue streams over the contingent earnout period. Management revised its estimated revenues as of December 31, 2021. These forecasts were reviewed and adjusted to ensure they appeared reasonable based on our current understanding of the addressable market, the growth rates forecast by third party market analysts, our expected share of revenue and the expectation of how many new clients we would realistically be able to add in a fiscal period. Based on our discussion under impairment of indefinite lived assets and goodwill, we are currently assessing the USB business and expect to have completed our analysis by December 31, 2021, the result which may impact the carrying value of intangibles, goodwill and the contingent purchase consideration.
Business Combination
As of July 15, 2021, we acquired 100% of US Bookmaking for a consideration of $6 million in cash, the issuance of 1,265,823 shares of our common stock plus an opportunity to the seller to receive up to an additional $41.8 million based upon achievement of certain EBITDA milestones during the upcoming four years as more fully described in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements. We determined the fair values of the tangible and intangible assets acquired and the liabilities assumed using valuation techniques, and goodwill using an income-based approach which estimates the fair value using a discounted cash flow model. Key assumptions in estimating fair values include projected revenue growth and the weighted average cost of capital (WACC).
We retained the services of a specialist valuation company to assist in assessing the reasonableness of the assumptions used in valuing the business as well as to perform a purchase price allocation. These assumptions were deemed reasonable at the time of performing the valuation.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our principal cash requirements have included the funding of acquisitions, repayments of convertible debt and deferred purchase consideration, the purchase of plant and equipment, and working capital needs. Working capital needs generally result from expenses incurred in developing our gaming platform for the various markets we operate in and new markets we are developing as well as our intention to aggressively expand into the US market.
We finance our business primarily though debt and equity placements and cash generated from operations. Our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations is dependent on the continued demand for our gaming services we offer to our customers through our land based and web based locations as well as the gaming platforms we license to third parties.
We finance our business to provide adequate funding for at least 12 months, based on forecasted profitability and working capital needs, and in the future, we anticipate that we would need to raise additional cash through equity or debt funding.
To date, we financed our business primarily though debt and equity placements and cash generated from operations. We have financed our business from the sale of shares of our common stock pursuant to the terms of the Open Market Sales AgreementSM that we entered into with Jefferies LLC on November 19, 2021, and a registered direct offering and concurrent private placement with an investor that closed on June 15, 2022.
Between March 28, 2022 and April 13, 2022, we sold 168,016 shares of common stock for gross proceeds of $0.4 million, less brokerage fees of $0.01 million pursuant to the Open Market Sales AgreementSM that we entered into with Jefferies LLC on November 19, 2021.
On June 13, 2022, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with a single investor (the “investor”) whereby we issued an aggregate of 2,625,000 shares of our common stock and pre-funded warrants to purchase 541,227 shares of common stock in a registered direct offering, in addition we issued a warrant for 3,166,227 shares of common stock, exercisable at $0.9475 per share with a maturity date of December 15, 2027, to the Investor in a concurrent private placement. The registered direct offering and concurrent private placement closed on June 15, 2022. The gross proceeds from the offering were approximately $3.0 million and the net proceeds from the offering were approximately $2.6 million after deducting certain fees due to the Placement Agent and our estimated transaction expenses.
Our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations is dependent on the continued demand for our gaming services we offer to our customers through our land based and web based locations as well as the gaming platforms we license to third parties.
Based on our forecasts, we believe that we will have to source additional funding through either debt or equity funding, if such debt or equity is available at terms that are acceptable to us, if at all, to continue executing on our growth plan and to continue operating for the next twelve months from the date of filing this report. We plan to continue our expansion plans in both the U.S. and Italian markets at a rate of growth that we believe is sustainable and achievable by us.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our Italian based operations, we have seen a shift towards web-based turnover (Handle) from our land-based turnover with the permanent closure of our Ulisse betting shop locations. The percentage Hold or Gross Gaming Revenue generated from our turnover is typically lower on web-based business which generally favors more casino type gaming at lower margins, as discussed above.
Assets
At September 30, 2022, we had total assets of approximately $42.6 million and $44.6 million at December 31, 2021, a decrease of $2.0 million. The decrease is primarily due to a decrease in cash balances of approximately $2.6 million, a decrease in gaming receivables of approximately $1.3 million, offset by an increase in prepaid expenditure of approximately $2.0 million, primarily related to prepaid software development expenses for the US market, the increase in right of use assets of $0.7 million related to the new property leases entered into by Multigioco and the decrease in intangibles of $1.2 million due to the amortization of these intangibles. The balance of the movement is made up of several individually insignificant asset movements.
At December 31, 2021, we had total assets of $44,578,841 compared to total assets of $35,857,979 on December 31, 2020. The increase of $8,720,862 is primarily related to the increase in Goodwill of $14,501,217 after impairment charges of $12,522,714 on the acquisition of US Bookmaking, the impairment charge was due to a revision on the timing of management’s expected profitability over the earnout period. An increase in intangible assets of $5,299,979 due to the acquisition of US Bookmaking and included non-compete agreements, tradenames and customer relationships. A reduction in cash balances and restricted cash balances of $12,338,412 primarily due to the cash paid in the acquisition of US Bookmaking of $5,973,839, the cash used in operation of $7,553,511, predominantly from U.S. operations, which included the funding of expenses related to the setup of U.S. operations, including consultants and legal expenses related to licensing activities and the absorption of cash in Ulisse as it wound down its operations and settled its outstanding liabilities, including accounts payable, gaming payables and tax liabilities, offset by net proceeds from financing activities of $2,857,084, which included proceeds from warrants exercised of $3,962,482 and the repayment of the bank line of credit of $500,000 and deferred purchase consideration of $410,383.
Liabilities
At September 30, 2022, we had approximately $28.4 million and $26.8 million in total liabilities at December 31, 2021. The increase of $1.6 million is primarily attributable to an increase in contingent purchase consideration of $1.4 million due to accretion expense related to the present value discount of the contingent purchase consideration, an increase in operating lease liabilities of $0.7 million, an increase in equipment funding by related parties of $0.4 million and an increase in related party promissory notes of $0.3 million advanced by Mr. Salerno, offset by a decrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities of approximately $1.6 million, primarily due to the concerted effort to reduce expenditure and the payment of several significant corporate legal bills during the current period.
At December 31, 2021, we had total liabilities of $26,837,324 compared to $15,701,626 on December 31, 2020. The increase of $11,135,698 is primarily due to the Contingent Purchase Consideration of $12,859,399 which was fair valued during the current period based on management’s revised estimate of the profitability of US Bookmaking, an increase in the deferred tax liability of $2,069,465, a decrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities of $1,140,867 and a decrease of $474,463 in Gaming Payables, primarily due to the winding down of Ulisse operations and the repayment of longer outstanding liabilities at corporate level, a reduction in tax liabilities of $899,071 due to the lower profitability of our European operations this year, in particular, the winding down of Ulisse operations, and the repayment of the $500,000 bank line of credit.
Working Capital
We had $4,690,034 in cash and cash equivalents on September 30, 2022 compared to $7,319,765 in cash and cash equivalents on December 31, 2021.
We had a working capital surplus of $528,062 as of September 30, 2022 compared to $1,556,306 as of December 31, 2021.
We continue to embark on an aggressive roll out of our operation in the U.S. market over the next twenty-four months and anticipate that we will need cash of approximately $10 million to $15 million to execute this successfully and to fund our increasing working capital requirements. We believe that we will need to raise additional cash resources either from equity markets or from debt funding during the near term as our existing cash resources together with the revenue from operations will not be sufficient to fund existing operations over the next twelve months from the date hereof. Historically, we have primarily financed our operations through revenue generated from providing online and land-based gaming products, services, and Platform services in Italy and the sales of our securities and we expect to continue to seek to obtain required capital in a similar manner. Recently, Issuedwe have spent, and expect to continue to spend, a substantial amount of funds in connection with our expansion strategy.
Accumulated Deficit
As of September 30, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of ($58,436,142) compared to an accumulated deficit of $48,243,028 on December 31, 2021.
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Net cash used in operating activities was approximately $4.6 million and $5.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, a decrease of approximately $0.7 million. The decrease in cash used in operating activities is primarily due to the increase in operating loss of approximately $3.3 million as discussed under results of operations above, offset by an increase in non-cash movements of approximately $3.8 million, primarily due to an increase in the movement in stock based compensation expense of approximately $1.1 million, including the accelerated amortization of stock options granted to a severed executive whose options vested immediately and the increase in restricted stock awards of $1.9 million for awards to management for reducing operating expenditure in terms of our mandate, the movement in the change in the fair value of contingent purchase consideration of approximately $0.8 million, due to the accretion expense expected on the USB earnout, and the increase in the movement of depreciation and amortization of approximately $0.4 million, primarily due the amortization of intangibles on the acquisition of USB.
Cash flows from operating activities resulted in net cash used in operating activities of $7,553,511 and $165,493 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The $(7,388,018) increase in cash used in operating activities is primarily related to; (i) the increase in net loss of $(5,127,829) offset by (ii) a net movement in non-cash items of $1,148,714, including a movement in impairment costs of long-lived assets and goodwill of $12,450,628, an increase in the movement of stock option compensation expense of $1,326,513, an increase in the movement in loss on marketable securities of $750,000, offset by a change in the fair value of contingent purchase consideration of $11,857,558, the decrease in the movement in the loss on extinguishment of debt of $(719,390) and a decrease in the movement on the amortization of debt discount of $805,349; and (iii) an increase in working capital movement of $(3,408,903), primarily due to the decrease in movement of gaming accounts payable of $(1,552,573) and the movement in taxes payable of $(1,445,398), primarily related to the winding down of Ulisse operations, an increase in the movement of the gaming accounts receivable balances of $880,226 due to the increase in business activity at our Multigioco operation, an increase in the movement of prepaid expenses of $534,099, predominantly due to prepaid licensed software for US operations, offset by an increase in accounts payable of $1,585,327, primarily related to an increase in payables balances at our Multigioco operation and an increase in corporate payables due to the expansion activities into the U.S. market taking place at the corporate level.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 was approximately $0.4 million compared to net cash used in investing activities of approximately $6.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. In the prior period we made an initial net cash payment on the acquisition of USB of $6.0 million. During the current period we invested funds in computer related software and hardware predominantly for the U.S. based expansion strategy.
The net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $6,690,919 and $291,501 for the year ended December 31, 2020, the increase over the prior year is primarily due to the acquisition of US Bookmaking amounting to $5,973,839, net of cash balances acquired and the acquisition of property and equipment and intangibles of $717,080, primarily to support the U.S. expansion efforts.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 was approximately $3.7 million compared to approximately $2.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. In the current period, a net amount of approximately $3.1 million was raised from a registered direct offering discussed above, after broker fees and expenses of
approximately $0.4 million, and a further, approximately $0.25 million was raised from ATM sales, we also raised approximately $0.4 million to fund equipment purchases required for expansion into the Ohio market and a further $0.3 million was provided by Mr. Salerno to fund the USB operation. In the prior year net cash provided by financing activities consisted primarily of net proceeds of approximately $4.0 million raised from the exercise of warrants related to the underwritten public offering in August 2020, offset by the repayment of the bank letter of credit of approximately $0.5 million and the payment of deferred purchase consideration of approximately $0.4 million.
Net cash provided by financing activities for the for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $2,857,084 and net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $12,711,416. The cash generated by financing activities during the current year included warrant exercises of $3,962,482, offset by the repayment of the bank line of credit of $500,000 and deferred purchase price payments of $410,383. In the prior year, we raised net proceeds of $8,966,122 in a public offering and further proceeds of $8,541,896 on warrants exercised, a portion of the proceeds were used to repay debentures of $2,778,349 and the bank line of credit of $500,000 as well as deferred purchase price payments of $1,577,010.
Contractual Obligations
Current accounting standards require disclosure of material obligations and commitments to make future payments under contracts, such as debt, lease agreements, and purchase obligations.
The amount of future minimum lease payments under finance leases are as follows:
Amount | ||||||
Remainder of 2022 | $ | 1,810 | ||||
2023 | 6,068 | |||||
2024 | 704 | |||||
8,582 |
The amount of future minimum lease payments under operating leases are as follows:
Amount | ||||||
Remainder of 2022 | $ | 92,278 | ||||
2023 | 334,306 | |||||
2024 | 267,418 | |||||
2025 | 242,980 | |||||
2026 and thereafter | 424,226 | |||||
1,361,208 |
Off-Balance-Sheet Arrangements
We have no off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenue or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources that we expect to be material to investors. We do not have any non-consolidated, special-purpose entities.
Inflation
The uncertain financial markets, disruptions in supply chains, mobility restraints, and changing priorities as well as volatile asset values could impact our business in the future. The outbreak and government measures taken in response to the pandemic have also had a significant impact, both direct and indirect, on businesses and commerce, as worker shortages have occurred; supply chains have been disrupted; facilities and production have been suspended; and demand for certain goods and services, such as our land based retail locations decreased. The future progression of the pandemic and its effects on our business and operations are uncertain. We may face difficulties recruiting employees because of the outbreak. Further, although we have not experienced any material adverse effects on our business due to increasing inflation, it has raised operating costs for many businesses and, in the future, could impact demand for our services foreign exchange rates or employee wages. We are actively monitoring the effects these disruptions and increasing inflation could have on our operations.
Foreign Exchange
We operate in several foreign countries, including Austria, Italy, Malta, Colombia and Canada and we incur operating expenses and have foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities associated with these operations. Transactions involving our corporate expenditures are generally denominated in U.S. dollars and Canadian dollars while the functional currency of our subsidiaries is in Euro and Colombian Pesos. Changes and fluctuations in the foreign exchange rate between the U.S. Dollar and the Euro, Canadian dollar and Colombian Peso will have an effect on our results of operations.
Related Party Transactions
Deferred Purchase consideration, Related Party
During the first and second quarter of the prior year, we paid the remaining balance of €312,500 (approximately $385,121) to related parties in terms of the Virtual Generation promissory note.
The movement on deferred purchase consideration consists of the following:
December 31, 2021 | ||||
Principal Outstanding | ||||
Promissory notes due to related parties | $ | 382,128 | ||
Repayment in cash | (385,121 | ) | ||
Foreign exchange movements | 2,993 | |||
— | ||||
Present value discount on future payments | ||||
Present value discount | (5,174 | ) | ||
Amortization | 5,133 | |||
Foreign exchange movements | 41 | |||
— | ||||
Deferred purchase consideration, net |
Equipment loan - Related Party
On September 26, 2022, the Company entered into an equipment loan agreement with Braydon Capital Corp, for the principal sum of $500,0000 of which an initial advance of $360,000 was received. The loan bears interest at 9% per annum, compounded monthly and is repayable on October 31, 2023. The loan agreement also provides for additional compensation to the lender of 1% of the gross income received from equipment funded by this loan, capped at 2% of the principal sum advanced.
Braydon Capital Corp is managed by Mr. Claudio Ciavarella, the bother of the Chairman of the Board.
The movement on the equipment loan - Related Party, consists of the following:
September 30, 2022 | ||||
Opening balance | — | |||
Loan advanced | $ | 360,000 | ||
Loan repayments | — | |||
Interest accrued | 355 | |||
Closing balance | $ | 360,355 |
Related Party (Payables) Receivables
Related party payables and receivables represent non-interest-bearing (payables) receivables that are due on demand.
The balances outstanding are as follows:
September 30, 2022 | December 31, 2021 | |||||||
Related Party payables | ||||||||
Luca Pasquini | $ | (161 | ) | $ | (502 | ) | ||
Victor Salerno | (374,346 | ) | (51,878 | ) | ||||
$ | (374,507 | ) | $ | (52,380 | ) | |||
Related Party Receivables | ||||||||
Luca Pasquini | $ | — | $ | 1,413 |
Luca Pasquini
On January 31, 2019, the Company acquired Virtual Generation for €4,000,000 (approximately $4,576,352), Mr. Pasquini, who at the time of acquisition was an executive officer and director of the Corporation, was a 20% owner of Virtual Generation and was due gross proceeds of €800,000 (approximately $915,270). The gross proceeds of €800,000 was to be settled by a payment in cash of €500,000 over a twelve month period and by the issuance of common stock valued at €300,000 over an eighteen month period. As of June 30, 2021, the Company has paid Mr. Pasquini the full cash amount of €500,000 (approximately $604,380) and issued 112,521 shares valued at €300,000 (approximately $334,791).
On January 22, 2021, the Company issued Mr. Pasquini 44,968 shares of common stock valued at $257,217, in settlement of accrued compensation due to him.
On July 11, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with Engage IT Services Srl.("Engage"), to provide gaming software and maintenance and support of the system, the total contract price was €390,000 (approximately $459,572), in addition, on October 14, 2021, the Company entered into a further agreement with Engage, to provide gaming software and maintenance and support of the system for a period of 12 months, the total contract price was €1,980,000 (approximately $2,192,000). Mr. Pasquini owns 34% of Engage
On September 13, 2021, Mr. Pasquini, the Company’s Vice President of Technology, resigned as a director of the Company and on October 4, 2021, Mr. Pasquini became the Global Head of Engineering of the Company’s subsidiary Odissea Betriebsinformatik Beratung GmbH and ceased to be Vice President of Technology and an executive officer of the Company.
On September 26, 2022, Mr. Pasquini was awarded 500,000 restricted shares of common stock valued at $226,750.
Michele Ciavarella
Mr. Ciavarella, the Company’s Executive Chairman of the Board, agreed to receive $140,000 of his 2021 fiscal year compensation as a restricted stock award, on January 22, 2021, the Company issued Mr. Ciavarella 24,476 shares of common stock valued at $140,000 on the date of issue.
On January 22, 2021, the Company issued Mr. Ciavarella 175,396 shares of common stock valued at $1,003,265, in settlement of accrued compensation due to him.
On July 15, 2021, Mr. Ciavarella, Executive Chairman of the Company, was appointed as the interim Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company, effective July 15, 2021. Mr. Ciavarella will serve as the Company's Executive Chairman and interim Chief Executive Officer until the earlier of his resignation or removal from office.
Mr. Ciavarella agreed to receive his 2021 bonus and a portion of his 2022 salary as a restricted stock award. On January 7, 2022, the Company issued Mr. Ciavarella 162,835 shares of common stock valued at $425,000 on the date of issue.
On September 26, 2022, Mr. Ciavarella was awarded 300,000 restricted shares of common stock valued at $136,080 for services rendered to the Company.
Carlo Reali
On January 5, 2022, the Company promoted Carlo Reali to the role of Interim Chief Financial Officer.
On March 29, 2022, the Company issued Mr. Reali ten-year options exercisable for 100,000 shares of common stock, at an exercise price of $2.50 per share, vesting equally over a 4 year period commencing on January 1, 2023.
The Company does not have a formal employment or other compensation related agreement with Mr. Reali; however, Mr. Reali will continue to receive the same compensation that he currently receives which is an annual base salary of €76,631 (approximately $83,847).
On September 26, 2022, Mr. Reali was awarded 200,000 restricted shares of common stock valued at $90,720 for services rendered to the Company.
Victor Salerno
On July 15, 2021 the Company consummated the acquisition of USB and in terms of the Purchase Agreement the Company acquired 100% of USB, from its members (the “Sellers”). Mr. Salerno was a 68% owner of USB and received $4,080,000 of the $6,000,000 paid in cash upon closing and 860,760 of the 1,265,823 shares of common stock issued on closing.
Together with the consummation of the acquisition of USB, the Company entered into a 4 year employment agreement with Mr. Salerno terminating on July 14, 2025 (the “Salerno Employment Agreement”), automatically renewable for a period of one year unless notified by either party of non-renewal. The employee will earn an initial base salary of $0 and thereafter $150,000 per annum commencing on January 1, 2022. Mr. Salerno is entitled to bonuses, equity incentives and benefits consistent with those of other senior employees.
Mr. Salerno may be terminated for no cause or resign for good reason, which termination would entitle him to the greater of one year’s salary or the remaining term of the employment agreement plus the highest annual incentive bonus paid to him during the past two years. If Mr. Salerno is terminated for cause he is entitled to all unpaid salary and expenses due to him at the time of termination. If the employment agreement is terminated due to death, his heirs and successors are entitled to all unpaid salary, unpaid expenses and one times his annual base salary. Termination due to disability will result in Mr. Salerno being paid all unpaid salary and expenses and one times annual salary.
Pursuant to the Salerno Employment Agreement, Mr. Salerno has also agreed to customary restrictions with respect to the disclosure and use of the Company’s confidential information and has agreed that work product or inventions developed or conceived by him while employed with the Company relating to its business is the Company’s property. In addition, during the term of his employment and if terminated for cause for the 12 month period following his termination of employment, Mr. Salerno has agreed not to (1) perform services on behalf of a competing business which was the same or similar to the type of services he was authorized, conducted, offered or provided to the Company, (2) solicit or induce any of the Company’s employees or independent contractors to terminate their employment with the Company, (3) solicit any actual or prospective customers with whom he had material contact on behalf of a competing business or (4) solicit any actual or prospective vendors with whom he had material contact to support a competing business.
On September 13, 2021, the Board appointed Mr. Salerno, the President and founder of the Company’s newly acquired subsidiary, USB, to serve as a member of the Board.
Prior to the acquisition of USB, Mr. Salerno had advanced USB $100,000 of which $50,000 was forgiven and the remaining $50,000 is still owing to Mr. Salerno, which amount earns interest at 8% per annum, compounded monthly and is repayable on December 31, 2023.
Between February 23, 2022 and September 22, 2022, Mr. Salerno advanced USB a total of $305,000 in terms of purported promissory notes, bearing interest at 10% per annum and repayable between June 30, 2022 and November 30, 2022. These purported promissory notes contain a default clause whereby any unpaid principal would attract an additional 25% penalty. These notes were advanced to USB without the consent of the Company, which is required as per the terms of the Members Interest Purchase Agreement entered into on July 15, 2021. Therefore the Company acknowledges the advance of funds to USB by Mr. Salerno, however the terms of the advance and the default penalty have not been accepted and are subject to negotiation or dispute. As of September 30, 2022, these notes remain outstanding, interest has been accrued on these notes, however we intend to dispute the validity of these notes and have accordingly not repaid them or accrued penalty interest in terms of these disputed notes.
Paul Sallwasser
On September 13, 2021, the Company granted Mr. Sallwasser ten year options exercisable for 21,300 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $5.10, vesting equally over a twelve month period commencing on September 13, 2021.
Steven Shallcross
On January 22, 2021, the Company issued to Mr. Shallcross, a director of the Company, 5,245 shares of common stock valued at $30,000, in settlement of directors’ fees due to him.
On September 13, 2021, the Company granted Mr. Shallcross ten year options exercisable for 13,600 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $5.10, vesting equally over a twelve month period commencing on September 13, 2021.
Andrea Mandel-Mantello
On June 29, 2021, the Board of Directors of the Company appointed Mr. Mandel-Mantello to serve as a member of the Board. The appointment was effective immediately. Mr. Mandel-Mantello serves on the audit committee of the Board.
On September 13, 2021, the Company granted Mr. Mandel-Mantello ten year options exercisable for 13,600 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $5.10, vesting equally over a twelve month period commencing on September 13, 2021.
Critical Accounting PronouncementsEstimates
Preparation of our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of certain assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, as well as related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. Significant accounting policies are fundamental to understanding our financial condition and results as they require the use of estimates and assumptions which affect the financial statements and accompanying notes. See Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statementsfinancial statements included in this interim report on Form 10-Qprospectus for information regarding recently issued accounting standards.
Results of Operations for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and the three months ended June 30, 2019
Revenuesfurther information.
The following table represents disaggregated revenues from our gaming operations for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019. Net Gaming Revenues represents Turnover (also referred to as “Handle”), the total bets processed for the period, less customer winnings paid out, commissions paid to agents, and taxes due to government authorities, while Commission Revenues represents commissions on lotto ticket sales and Service Revenues is revenue invoiced for our ELYS software service and royalties invoiced for the sale of virtual products.
Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||
June 30, 2020 | June 30, 2019 | Increase (decrease) | Percentage change | |||||||||||||
Turnover | ||||||||||||||||
Turnover web-based | $ | 89,855,358 | $ | 88,647,748 | $ | 1,207,610 | 1.4 | % | ||||||||
Turnover land-based | 4,210,173 | 10,617,656 | (6,407,483 | ) | (60.3 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Turnover | 94,065,531 | 99,265,404 | (5,199,873 | ) | (5.2 | )% | ||||||||||
Winnings/Payouts | ||||||||||||||||
Winnings web-based | 84,604,648 | 81,857,558 | 2,747,090 | 3.4 | % | |||||||||||
Winnings land-based | 3,599,916 | 7,199,276 | (3,599,360 | ) | (50.0 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Winnings/payouts | 88,204,564 | 89,056,834 | (852,270 | ) | (1.0 | )% | ||||||||||
Gross Gaming Revenues | 5,860,967 | 10,208,570 | (4,347,603 | ) | (42.6 | )% | ||||||||||
Less: ADM Gaming Taxes | 1,065,693 | 1,172,993 | (107,300 | ) | (9.1 | )% | ||||||||||
Net Gaming Revenues | 4,795,274 | 9,035,577 | (4,240,303 | ) | (46.9 | )% | ||||||||||
Add: Service Revenues | 14,995 | 69,776 | (54,781 | ) | (78.5 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Revenues | $ | 4,810,269 | $ | 9,105,353 | $ | (4,295,084 | ) | (47.2 | )% |
The Company generated total revenues of $4,810,268 and $9,105,353 for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $4,295,085 or 47.7%.
The change in total sales channel revenues is primarily due tocritical accounting policies that involved significant estimation included the following:
Web-based turnover increasedImpairment of Indefinite Lived Assets and Goodwill
At September 30, 2022, we carried intangible assets in the amount of $14.4 million and goodwill in the amount of $16.2 million and as of December 31, 2022 we carried intangible assets in the amount of $15.6 million and goodwill in the amount of $16.2 as more fully described in Notes 7 and 8 to the financial statements included in this prospectus. The intangible assets and goodwill are allocated between reporting units. We test our goodwill and intangible assets with an indefinite useful life annually for impairment or more frequently if indicators for impairment exist. Impairment for goodwill is determined by $1,207,610 or 1.4%.comparing the fair value of the respective reporting unit to their carrying amount. For impairment testing of indefinite-lived intangibles. We determine the fair value of the reporting units using an income-based approach which estimates the fair value using a discounted cash flow model. Key assumptions in estimating fair values include projected revenue growth and the weighted average cost of capital. In addition, management recently reviewed the future revenue and profit projections of USB based on the forecasts provided by the vendors at the time of performing the business valuation, which factored in the ability to source new customers. The slight increasecustomer acquisition process has proven to take longer than expected with a resultant downward revision of new customers acquired over the priorforecast period was impacted byand the temporary shutdown of betting shops in Italyresultant downward impact on March 8, 2020 due to COVID-19, which shops re-opened on June 19, 2020. The impact was significant for our Ulisse operation whose revenues are derived from physical betting shops, while our Multigioco operation has an online web based platform which does not rely on physical betting shops. The ratio of payouts on online turnover increased from 92.3% inforecasted revenue streams. We reviewed the prior period to 94.2% in the current period. The payout ratio variesforecasts and made appropriate adjustments based on our current understanding of the skill and luckaddressable market, the growth rates forecast by third party market analysts, our expected share of our customersrevenue and the outcomeexpectation of sporting eventshow many new clients we would realistically be able to add over the forecast period. Since performing this analysis, we have assumed operational management of this entity and are currently assessing the revenues and expenditures associated with the operation, currently we do not believe that further impairment is necessary, however, once we have reviewed the revenue base and improved the operational efficiencies, which are inherently unpredictable and can fluctuate significantly from periodwe expect to period.have completed by year end, we will readdress the impairment analysis.
Land-based turnover decreased by $6,407,483 or 60.3%. The decrease over the prior period was impacted by the temporary shutdown of betting shops in Italy on March 8, 2020 due to COVID-19, which shops reopened on June 19, 2020. The impact was significant for both our Ulisse operation and our Multigioco operation, which impact was partially offset by increased internet based gaming operation in Multigioco. The ratio of payouts on land-based turnover increased from 67.8% in the prior period to 85.5% in the current period. The payout ratio varies based on the skill and luck of our customers and the outcome of sporting events which are inherently unpredictable and can fluctuate significantly from period to period.
ADM gaming taxes decreased by $107,300 or 9.1% over the prior period. The relative rate of our gaming taxes, which is based on Gross Gaming Revenues, of 18.2% for the three months ended June 30, 2020 is significantly higher compared to 11.5% for the three months ended June 30, 2019 and is primarily due to the mix of our Gross Gaming revenues shifting to Multigioco that incurs an average gaming tax of approximately 24% compared to Ulisse with a significantly lower tax rate due to its incorporation being situated outside of Italy. This effect was due to the temporary shutdown of all of Ulisse CED retail betting locations during the COVID related lockdown in Italy.
Betting platform software and services revenue decreased by $54,782 or 78.5%. Our platform services customer base is currently limited to services provided to internal group operations of Multigioco, Ulisse and VG, that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This revenue remains insignificant to total revenues during the years presented.
Selling expenses
We incurred selling expenses of $3,957,366 and $6,268,772 the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $2,311,406 or 36.9%. Selling expenses are primarily commissions that are paid to our sales agents and are calculated as a percentage of turnover and not impacted by our payouts to customers. Therefore, increases in turnover, will typically result in increases in selling expenses, regardless of the winnings paid to customers. During the three months ended June 2020 and 2019, our percentage of selling expenses to total turnover was 4.2% and 6.3%, respectively, this is primarily due to the shift in mix of our business to Multigioco which has a lower commission rate compared to Ulisse which was more severely impacted by the COVID-19 temporary shutdown of betting shops in Italy.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were $2,883,427 and $3,360,284 during the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $476,857 or 14.2%. The decrease in general and administrative expenses is primarily due to certain COVID-19 wage related subsidies received in both our Ulisse and Multigioco operations and the reduction in corporate overhead expenses, including payroll and sales and marketing expenditure during the period.
Loss from Operations
The loss from operations was $2,030,524 and $523,703 for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, an increase of $1,506,821 or 287.7%. The increase in operating loss is directly attributable to the reduction in revenue due to the impact of COVID 19, on our primarily land based operations, which was partially offset by our web based business, offset by a reduction in selling expenses and general and administrative expenses, as discussed above.
Interest Expense, Net of Interest Income
Interest expense was $33,099 and $277,639 for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $244,540 or 88.1%, The decrease is primarily related to the conversion of convertible debentures into equity, primarily in the prior year, with further conversions taking place during the current period.
Amortization of debt discount
Amortization of debt discount was $286,845 and $739,604 for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $452,759 or 61.2%. The decrease is primarily due to the conversion of convertible debentures into equity, primarily in the prior year, with further conversions taking place during the current period, resulting in the acceleration of the amortization of debt discount for those debentures that converted prior to maturity.
Loss on extinguishment of convertible debt
The loss on extinguishment of convertible debt was $719,390 and $0 for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, an increase of $719,390 or 100%. We issued additional warrants to certain debenture holders who agreed to extend the maturity date of their debentures by between 90 and 120 days to allow us to complete a fund raising exercise. These warrants were valued using a Black-Scholes valuation model.
Loss on convertible debt
The loss on convertible debt was $0 and $35,943 for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The loss in the prior period was due to bonus shares issued to certain debenture holders to induce them to sell their convertible debentures to strategic investors.
Gain (loss) on Marketable Securities
The Gain on marketable securities was $592,500 and $0 for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, an increase of $592,500 or 100%. The gain on marketable securities is directly related to the stock price of our investment in Zoompass which is marked-to-market each quarter. The shares in Zoompass were acquired by the Company as settlement of a litigation matter.
Loss Before Income TaxesFair Value of Contingent Consideration
Loss before income taxes was $2,463,496As of September 30, 2022, we carried contingent purchase consideration in the amount of $14.3 million and $1,569,164as of December 31, 2021, we carried contingent purchase consideration in the amount of $12.9 million. The contingent consideration relates to the business combination of US Bookmaking on July 15, 2021. The contingent consideration as more fully described in Note 12 to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended JuneSeptember 30, 20202022 and 2019, respectively, an increase of $894,332 or 57.0%. The increase is attributable2021 and Note 14 to the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on revenues in our Italian operations which temporarily affected our land based operations, which was partially offset by an increase in turnover of our internet based operations. We incurred a cost on the value of certain warrants issued to convertible debenture holders who had agreed to extend the maturity date of their convertible debt. The lower revenue and additional warrant cost was offset by reduced selling expenses, lower general and administrative expenses as well as lower interest and amortization expense. We also realized a gain on a mark to market of our marketable securities, as discussed above
Income Tax Provision
The income tax provision was $62,059 and $209,056 for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $146,997 or 70.3%. The current year tax charge consists of a withholding tax charge on dividends declared by one of our subsidiaries to our holding company of €150,000 (approximately $162,000), imputed deferred tax credit and a credit to our income tax charge of $201,811 based on the losses realized at our main operating subsidiaries related to the COVID-19 related temporary reduction in revenues.
Net Loss
Net loss was $2,525,555 and $1,778,220 for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, an increase of $747,335 or 42.0% due to the increase in loss before income taxes and the reduction in income tax provision, discussed above.
Comprehensive Loss
Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar while the functional currency of our subsidies is the Euro, the local currency in Italy, Malta and Austria, and the functional currency of our Canadian subsidiary is the Canadian Dollar. Theaudited consolidated financial statements of our subsidiaries are translated into United States dollars in accordance with ASC 830, using year-end rates of exchange for assets and liabilities, and average rates of exchange for the period for revenues, costs, and expenses and historical rates for equity. Translation adjustments resulting from the process of translating the local currency financial statements into U.S. dollars are included in determining other comprehensive income.
We recorded a foreign currency translation adjustment of $18,516 and $69,023 for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Results of Operations for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and the six months ended June 30, 2019
This Management’s Discussion and Analysis includes a discussion of our operations for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019. The operations of VG and Naos were only included for five of the six months ended June 30, 2019 due to the fact that the acquisition was consummated in January 2019.
Revenues
The following table represents disaggregated revenues from our gaming operations for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019. Net Gaming Revenues represents Turnover (also referred to as “Handle”), the total bets processed for the period, less customer winnings paid out, commissions paid to agents, and taxes due to government authorities, while Commission Revenues represents commissions on lotto ticket sales and Service Revenues is revenue invoiced for our ELYS software service and royalties invoiced for the sale of virtual products.
Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||
June 30, 2020 | June 30, 2019 | Increase (decrease) | Percentage change | |||||||||||||
Turnover | ||||||||||||||||
Turnover web-based | $ | 182,231,464 | $ | 175,223,649 | $ | 7,007,815 | 4.0 | % | ||||||||
Turnover land-based | 27,812,258 | 61,017,220 | (33,204,962 | ) | (54.4 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Turnover | 210,043,722 | 236,240,869 | (26,197,147 | ) | (11.1 | )% | ||||||||||
Winnings/Payouts | ||||||||||||||||
Winnings web-based | 170,700,270 | 164,120,495 | 6,579,775 | 4.0 | % | |||||||||||
Winnings land-based | 21,791,318 | 51,555,578 | (29,764,260 | ) | (57.7 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Winnings/payouts | 192,491,588 | 215,676,073 | (23,184,485 | ) | (10.7 | )% | ||||||||||
Gross Gaming Revenues | 17,552,134 | 20,564,796 | (3,012,662 | ) | (14.6 | )% | ||||||||||
Less: ADM Gaming Taxes | 2,596,488 | 2,366,739 | 229,749 | 9.7 | % | |||||||||||
Net Gaming Revenues | 14,955,646 | 18,198,057 | (3,242,411 | ) | (17.8 | )% | ||||||||||
Add: Service Revenues | 24,797 | 173,591 | (148,794 | ) | (85.7 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Revenues | $ | 14,980,443 | $ | 18,371,648 | $ | (3,391,205 | ) | (18.5 | )% |
The Company generated total revenues of $14,980,443 and $18,371,648 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $3,391,205 or 18.5%.
The change in total sales channel revenues is primarily due to the following:
Web-based turnover increased by $7,007,815 or 4.0%. The increase was due to the significant number of web shops opened in the second half of 2019 that remained open during the first quarter of 2020, as well as the addition of virtual game products, although we have experienced a decrease in the growth of our web-based revenue in the second quarter due to the impact of COVID-19, we still saw an increase of 1.4% in web-based turnover in the second quarter. The increase over the prior period was impacted by the temporary shutdown of betting shops in Italy on March 8, 2020 due to COVID-19, which shops re-opened on June 19, 2020. The impact was significant for our Ulisse operation whose turnover is derived from physical betting shops, while our Multigioco operation has an online web based platform which does not rely on physical betting shops. The ratio of payouts on online turnover remained consistent at 93.7% over both periods presented. The payout ratio varies based on the skill and luck of our customers and the outcome of sporting events which are inherently unpredictable and can fluctuate significantly from period to period.
Land-based turnover decreased by $33,204,962 or 54.4%. The decrease over the prior period was impacted by the temporary shutdown of betting shops in Italy on March 8, 2020 due to COVID-19, which shops reopened on June 19, 2020. The impact was significant for both our Ulisse operation and our Multigioco operation, which impact was partially offset by increased internet based gaming operation in Multigioco. The ratio of payouts on land-based turnover decreased from 84.5% in the prior period to 78.4% in the current period. The payout ratio varies based on the skill and luck of our customers and the outcome of sporting events which are inherently unpredictable and can fluctuate significantly from period to period.
ADM gaming taxes increased by $229,749 or 9.7% over the prior period. The relative rate of our gaming taxes, which is based on Gross Gaming Revenues, of 14.8% during the six months ended June 30, 2020 is significantly higher compared to 11.5% for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and is primarily due to the mix of our Gross Gaming revenues shifting to Multigioco which has an average gaming tax of approximately 24% compared to Ulisse with a significantly lower tax rate due to its incorporation being situated outside of Italy. This effect was due to the temporary shutdown of all of Ulisse CED retail betting locations during the COVID related lockdown in Italy.
Betting platform software and services revenue decreased by $148,794 or 85.7%. Our platform services customer base is currently limited to services provided to internal group operations of Multigioco, Ulisse and VG, that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This revenue remains insignificant to total revenues during the periods presented.
Selling expenses
We incurred selling expenses of $10,172,527 and $13,676,478 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $3,503,951 or 25.6%. Selling expenses are primarily commissions that are paid to our sales agents and are calculated as a percentage of turnover and not impacted by our payouts to customers. Therefore, increases in turnover, will typically result in increases in selling expenses, regardless of the winnings paid to customers. During the six months ended June 2020 and 2019, our percentage of selling expenses to total turnover was 4.8% and 5.8%, respectively, this is primarily due to the shift in mix of our business to Multigioco which has a lower commission rate compared to Ulisse which was more severely impacted by the COVID-19 temporary shutdown of betting shops in Italy.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were $5,704,388 and $6,557,739 during the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $853,351 or 13.0%. The decrease in general and administrative expenses is primarily due to certain COVID-19 wage related subsidies received in both our Ulisse and Multigioco operations and the reduction in corporate overhead expenses, including payroll and sales and marketing expenditure during the period.
Loss from Operations
The loss from operations was $896,472 and $1,862,569 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $966,097 or 51.9%. The decrease in operating loss is directly attributable to the improvement in revenues during the first quarter of the current period, offset by losses incurred in the second quarter directly related to the temporary impact of COVID-19 on our turnover and related profitability, which was partially offset by a reduction in selling expenses and general and administrative expenses, as discussed above.
Interest Expense, Net of Interest Income
Interest expense was $173,073 and $425,275 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $252,202 or 59.3%, The decrease is primarily related to the conversion of convertible debentures into equity, primarily in the prior year, with further conversions taking place during the current period.
Amortization of debt discount
Amortization of debt discount was $737,074 and $2,096,080 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $1,359,006 or 64.8%. The decrease is primarily due to the conversion of convertible debentures into equity, primarily in the prior year, with further conversions taking place during the current period, resulting in the acceleration of the amortization of debt discount for those debentures that converted prior to maturity.
Loss on extinguishment of convertible debt
The loss on extinguishment of convertible debt was $719,390 and $0 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, an increase of $719,390 or 100%. We issued additional warrants to certain debenture holders who agreed to extend the maturity date of their debentures by between 90 and 120 days to allow us to complete a fund raising exercise. These warrants were valued using a Black-Scholes valuation model.
Loss on convertible debt
The loss on convertible debt was $0 and $35,943 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The loss in the prior period was due to bonus shares issued to certain debenture holders to induce them to sell their convertible debentures to strategic investors.
Gain (loss) on Marketable Securities
The Gain on marketable securities was $722,500 and a loss of $(25,000) for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, an increase of $747,500. The gain on marketable securities is directly related to the stock price of our investment in Zoompass which is marked-to-market each quarter. The shares in Zoompass were acquired by the Company as settlement of a litigation matter.
Loss Before Income Taxes
Loss before income taxes was $1,778,849 and $4,437,142 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $2,658,293 or 59.9%. The decrease is attributable to the increase in turnover and revenue during the first quarter partially offset by the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on revenues in our Italian operations which temporarily affected our land based operations in the second quartet. We incurred a cost on the value of certain warrants issued to convertible debenture holders who had agreed to extend the maturity date of their convertible debt. The lower revenue and additional warrant cost was offset by reduced selling expenses, lower general and administrative expenses as well as lower interest and amortization expense. We also realized a gain on a mark to market of our marketable securities, as discussed above.
Income Tax Provision
The income tax provision was $590,097 and $455,030 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, an increase of $135,067 or 29.7%. The current year tax charge consists of a withholding tax charge on dividends declared by one of our subsidiaries to our holding company of €150,000 (Approximately $162,000), imputed deferred tax credit of $47,720 and an income tax charge of $475,705 based on the profitability at our main operating subsidiaries in the first quarter, offset by COVID-19 related temporary reduction in profitability in the second quarter.
Net Loss
Net loss was $2,367,946 and $4,892,172 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, a decrease of $2,525,226 or 51.6%, due to the increase in loss before income taxes and the increase in income tax provision, discussed above.
Comprehensive Loss
Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar while the functional currency of our subsidies is the Euro, the local currency in Italy, Malta and Austria and the functional currency of our Canadian subsidiary is the Canadian Dollar. The financial statements of our subsidiaries are translated into United States dollars in accordance with ASC 830, using year-end rates of exchange for assets and liabilities, and average rates of exchange for the period for revenues, costs, and expenses and historical rates for equity. Translation adjustments resulting from the process of translating the local currency financial statements into U.S. dollars are included in determining other comprehensive income.
We recorded a foreign currency translation adjustment of $(93,514) and $(61,207) for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Results of operations for the years ended December 31, 20192022 and December 31, 2018.2021 included in this prospectus. The contingent consideration relates to the business combination of USB on July 15, 2021. The contingent consideration is based upon achievement of certain EBITDA milestones during the next 4 years, payable 50% in cash and 50% in stock, the contingent consideration is up to $41.8 million. At each reporting period, the Company estimates changes in the fair value of the contingent consideration and any change in fair value is recognized in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive (loss) income.
The comparisons below include a discussion of our operationsbasis for the year ended December 31, 2019, which includes the acquisition of VG and Naosdetermining contingent purchase consideration at each reporting period is based on January 31, 2019.
Revenues
The following table represents disaggregated revenues from our gaming operations for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018. Net Gaming Revenues represents turnover (also referred to as “handle”), the total bets processedcumulative EBITDA for the period lessJuly 15, 2021 to December 31, 2025, with the first measurement period being December 31, 2022. The forecasts provided by the vendors at the time of performing the business valuation was based on achieving a certain number of new customers on an annual basis. The customer winnings paid out, commissions paidacquisition process has proven to agents,take longer than expected with a resultant impact on forecasted revenue streams over the contingent earnout period. Management revised its estimated revenues as of December 31, 2021. These forecasts were reviewed and taxes dueadjusted to government authorities. Commissionensure they appeared reasonable based on our current understanding of the addressable market, the growth rates forecast by third party market analysts, our expected share of revenue and service revenues represent commissionsthe expectation of how many new clients we would realistically be able to add in a fiscal period. Based on lotto ticket salesour discussion under impairment of indefinite lived assets and revenue invoiced forgoodwill, we are currently assessing the USB business and expect to have completed our Elys software serviceanalysis by December 31, 2021, the result which may impact the carrying value of intangibles, goodwill and royalties invoiced for the sale of virtual products.
Years Ended | ||||||||||||||||
December 31, 2019 | December 31, 2018 | Increase/ (decrease) | Percentage change | |||||||||||||
Turnover | ||||||||||||||||
Web-based | $ | 328,385,837 | $ | 235,891,170 | $ | 92,494,667 | 39.2 | % | ||||||||
Land-based | 125,747,337 | 177,334,592 | (51,587,255 | ) | (29.1 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Turnover | 454,133,174 | 413,225,762 | 40,907,412 | 9.9 | % | |||||||||||
Winnings/Payouts | ||||||||||||||||
Web-based | 309,214,993 | 223,064,978 | 86,150,015 | 38.6 | % | |||||||||||
Land-based | 105,011,619 | 152,446,130 | (47,434,511 | ) | (31.1 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Winnings/payouts | 414,226,612 | 375,511,108 | 38,715,504 | 10.3 | % | |||||||||||
Gross Gaming Revenues | 39,906,562 | 37,714,654 | 2,191,908 | 5.8 | % | |||||||||||
Less: ADM Gaming Taxes | 4,697,085 | 3,417,150 | 1,279,935 | 37.5 | % | |||||||||||
Net Gaming Revenues | 35,209,477 | 34,297,504 | 911,973 | 2.7 | % | |||||||||||
Betting platform software and services | 373,654 | 277,593 | 96,061 | 34.6 | % | |||||||||||
Total Revenues | $ | 35,583,131 | $ | 34,575,097 | 1,008,034 | 2.9 | % |
contingent purchase consideration.
The Company generated total revenuesBusiness Combination
As of $35,583,131 and $34,575,097July 15, 2021, we acquired 100% of US Bookmaking for a consideration of $6 million in cash, the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively,issuance of 1,265,823 shares of our common stock plus an increase of $1,008,034 or 2.9%.
The change in total revenues is primarily dueopportunity to the following:
Web-based turnover increased by $92,494,667 or 39.2%. The increaseseller to receive up to an additional $41.8 million based upon achievement of certain EBITDA milestones during the upcoming four years as more fully described in web-based turnover is primarily due to a significant increase in the number of web-shops opened in 2019 as well as the addition of virtual games productsNote 3 to the online channel. The payout ratio on web-based turnover improved to 94.2% from 94.6% inconsolidated financial statements. We determined the prior year, resulting in more profitability onfair values of the turnover generated of approximately $1.3 million. The payout ratio varies based on the skilltangible and luck of our customers and can fluctuate significantly from period to period and year to year.
Land-based turnover decreased by $51,587,255 or 29.1%. The decrease in land-based turnover is primarily due to conversion of land-based customers to web-based customersintangible assets acquired and the closureliabilities assumed using valuation techniques, and goodwill using an income-based approach which estimates the fair value using a discounted cash flow model. Key assumptions in estimating fair values include projected revenue growth and the weighted average cost of approximately 20 underperforming land-based locations in Italy. The payout ratio on land-based turnover decreased to 83.5% from 86.0%, resulting in more profitability on the turnover generated of $3.1 million. The payout ratio varies based on the skill and luck of our customers and can fluctuate significantly from period to period.
Gross gaming revenues increased by $2,191,908 or 5.8%capital (WACC). Although we had an overall increase in total turnover of 9.9%, the volume of web-based turnover as a percentage of total turnover increased from 57.1% in 2018 to 72.3% in 2019. Web-based turnover has a higher payout ratio in the current year of 94.2% compared to land-based turnover which has a payout ratio of 83.5% in the current year, this resulted in web-based revenue growing by 5.8% over the prior year compared to total revenue growing by 9.9%
ADM gaming taxes increased by $1,279,935 or 37.5% over the prior period due to the increased gaming tax rates instituted by the Italian gaming regulator in 2019 along with the increase in overall betting handle which gaming tax is based on.
Betting platform software and services revenue, while increasing by 34.6%, remains insignificant to total revenues during the years presented.
Selling expenses
We incurred selling expensesretained the services of $27,584,492 and $24,142,110 fora specialist valuation company to assist in assessing the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, an increasereasonableness of $3,442,382 or 14.3%. Selling expenses are commissions that are paidthe assumptions used in valuing the business as well as to our sales agents and are directly tied to handle (turnover) as they are based onperform a percentagepurchase price allocation. These assumptions were deemed reasonable at the time of handle (turnover) and are not affected byperforming the winnings that are paid. Therefore, increases in handle, will typically result in increases in selling expenses but may not result in increases in overall revenue if winnings/payouts are very high. During the year ended December 31, 2019, our percentage of selling expenses to gross gaming revenues was approximately 69.1% compared to 64.0% for the year ended December 31, 2018, primarily due to an aggressive strategy in the Italian gaming market to gain market share resulting in revised commission agreements with agents.valuation.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were $10,994,554 and $10,588,162 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, an increase of $406,392 or 3.8%. The increase in general and administrative expenditure is in line with expectations and includes the grant of stock options during the year ended December 31, 2019 resulting in an expense of $201,106 and $0 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Loss from Operations
The loss from operations was $2,995,915 and $155,175 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, an increase of $2,840,740. The increase in loss from operations is due to the increase in selling expenses of $3,442,382 offset by an increase in revenue of $1,008,034 as discussed above.
Interest Expense, Net of Interest Income
Interest expense was $972,443 and $619,709 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, an increase of $352,734 or 56.9%. The increase is attributable to the interest on the convertible debentures which were issued during 2018, a significant amount of these debentures were only in existence for a portion of prior year.
Amortization of debt discount
Amortization of debt discount was $4,154,922 and $1,995,128 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, an increase of $2,159,794 or 108.3%. The increase is attributable to the debt discount arising on the issuances of convertible debentures in 2018, a significant amount of these convertible debentures were only in existence for a portion of prior year, in addition convertible debentures amounting to $5,240,206 and interest thereon of $732,136 was converted to equity during the current year, of which approximately $3,725,000 was converted in December 2019, resulting in the acceleration of the debt discount amortization.
Virtual Generation bonus earnout
The Virtual Generation bonus earnout was $561,351 and $0 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. In terms of the Securities Purchase Agreement entered into with the Virtual Generation sellers in January 2019, the sellers were entitled to an additional payment of €500,000 on achievement of a growth on gross tickets sold of 5%. This contingent bonus earnout was not included in the original purchase consideration as we considered that the possibility of achieving the 5% growth in gross tickets was remote. On December 31, 2019, we issued an aggregate of 132,735 shares of common stock as full payment of the earnout.
Loss on share issuances
Loss on share issuances was $44,063 and $0 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, an increase of $44,063 or 100%. The loss on share issuances was primarily related to shares issued to certain convertible debenture holders to induce them to transfer their convertible debentures to another holder.
Other income
Other income was $149,565 and $0 for years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Other income represent several individually insignificant amounts received during the year.
Imputed interest on related party advances
Imputed interest on related party advances was $0 and $761 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. This amount is immaterial.
Gain on litigation settlement
Gain on litigation settlement was $516,120 for the year ended December 31, 2018 and no Gain on litigation settlement for the year ended December 31, 2019, respectively, a decrease of $516,120 or 100%. During the year ended December 31, 2018, we settled a legal dispute with an entity we had invested funds into resulting in the issue of the Zoompass marketable securities to us and the forgiveness of a debt we owed to this entity.
Loss on issuance of convertible debt
Loss on issuance of convertible debt was $0 and $196,403 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, a decrease of $196,403 or 100%. The loss in the prior year arose on the issuance of convertible debentures between January 1, 2018 and May 31, 2018.
Loss on Marketable Securities
The loss on marketable securities was $97,500 and $75,000 for the years ended December 13, 2019, and 2018, respectively. The loss on marketable securities is directly related to the stock price of our investment in Zoompass which is marked-to-market each period. The shares in Zoompass were acquired by the Company as settlement of the litigation matter mentioned above.
Loss Before Income Taxes
Loss before income taxes was $8,676,629 and $2,526,056 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, an increase of $6,150,573 or 243.5%. The increase is primarily attributable to the increase in loss from operations of $2,840,740; the increase in the amortization of debt discount of $2,159,794; the Virtual Generation bonus earnout of $561,351; and the gain on litigation settlement in the prior year of $516,120 as discussed above.
Income Tax Provision
The income tax provision was $598,176 and $1,102,701 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, a decrease of $504,525 or 45.8%. The decrease in the income tax provision is attributable to the reduction in earnings at our operating subsidiaries discussed under revenue and selling expenses above and the deferred tax movement of $85,654 on intangible assets.
Net Loss
Net loss was $9,274,805 and $3,628,757 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, an increase of $5,646,048 or 155.6%, due to the reasons discussed above.
Comprehensive Loss
Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar while the functional currency of our subsidies is the Euro, the local currency in Italy and Austria and the functional currency of our Canadian subsidiary is the Canadian dollar. The financial statements of our subsidiaries are translated into United States dollars in accordance with ASC 830, using year-end rates of exchange for assets and liabilities, and average rates of exchange for the period for revenues, costs, and expenses and historical rates for equity. Translation adjustments resulting from the process of translating the local currency financial statements into U.S. dollars are included in determining other comprehensive income.
We recorded a foreign currency translation loss of $119,286 and $184,043 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The closingOur principal cash requirements have included the funding of physical betting shop locations until June 19, 2020, whenacquisitions, repayments of convertible debt and deferred purchase consideration, the purchase of plant and equipment, and working capital needs. Working capital needs generally result from expenses incurred in developing our gaming platform for the various markets we began reopening physical webshop locations, had not affected our onlineoperate in and mobile business operations which mitigated some of the impact of the closure of the physical store locations. On March 8, 2020 the Italian government imposed further restrictions on travel throughout Italynew markets we are developing as well as transborder crossingsour intention to aggressively expand into the US market.
We finance our business primarily though debt and have either postponed or cancelled most professional sports events which has had an effectequity placements and cash generated from operations. Our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations is dependent on the Company’s overall sports betting handlecontinued demand for our gaming services we offer to our customers through our land based and revenuesweb based locations as well as the gaming platforms we license to third parties.
We finance our business to provide adequate funding for at least 12 months, based on forecasted profitability and has negatively impactworking capital needs, and in the future, we anticipate that we would need to raise additional cash through equity or debt funding.
To date, we financed our operating results. business primarily though debt and equity placements and cash generated from operations. We have financed our business from the sale of shares of our common stock pursuant to the terms of the Open Market Sales AgreementSM that we entered into with Jefferies LLC on November 19, 2021, and a registered direct offering and concurrent private placement with an investor that closed on June 15, 2022.
Between March 28, 2022 and April 13, 2022, we sold 168,016 shares of common stock for gross proceeds of $0.4 million, less brokerage fees of $0.01 million pursuant to the Open Market Sales AgreementSM that we entered into with Jefferies LLC on November 19, 2021.
On June 19, 2020 all land-based betting shops, including corner locations such as coffee shops throughout Italy reopened. We anticipate that COVID-19 will continue13, 2022, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with a single investor (the “investor”) whereby we issued an aggregate of 2,625,000 shares of our common stock and pre-funded warrants to negatively impactpurchase 541,227 shares of common stock in a registered direct offering, in addition we issued a warrant for 3,166,227 shares of common stock, exercisable at $0.9475 per share with a maturity date of December 15, 2027, to the Investor in a concurrent private placement. The registered direct offering and concurrent private placement closed on June 15, 2022. The gross proceeds from the offering were approximately $3.0 million and the net proceeds from the offering were approximately $2.6 million after deducting certain fees due to the Placement Agent and our operating results in future periods, however, the specific impact is not readily determinable at this time.estimated transaction expenses.
Assets
Our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations is dependent on the continued demand for our gaming services we offer to our customers through our land based and web based locations as well as the gaming platforms we license to third parties.
Based on our forecasts, we believe that we will have to source additional funding through either debt or equity funding, if such debt or equity is available at terms that are acceptable to us, if at all, to continue executing on our growth plan and to continue operating for the next twelve months from the date of filing this report. We plan to continue our expansion plans in both the U.S. and Italian markets at a rate of growth that we believe is sustainable and achievable by us.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our Italian based operations, we have seen a shift towards web-based turnover (Handle) from our land-based turnover with the permanent closure of our Ulisse betting shop locations. The percentage Hold or Gross Gaming Revenue generated from our turnover is typically lower on web-based business which generally favors more casino type gaming at lower margins, as discussed above.
Assets
At JuneSeptember 30, 2020,2022, we had total assets of $27,965,363 compared to $27,825,182approximately $42.6 million and $44.6 million at December 31, 2019.2021, a decrease of $2.0 million. The decrease is primarily due to a decrease in cash balances of approximately $2.6 million, a decrease in gaming receivables of approximately $1.3 million, offset by an increase in prepaid expenditure of approximately $2.0 million, primarily related to prepaid software development expenses for the US market, the increase in right of use assets of $0.7 million related to the new property leases entered into by Multigioco and the decrease in intangibles of $1.2 million due to the amortization of these intangibles. The balance of the movement is made up of several individually insignificant asset movements.
At December 31, 2021, we had total assets of $44,578,841 compared to total assets of $35,857,979 on December 31, 2020. The increase of $8,720,862 is primarily related to the increase in Goodwill of $14,501,217 after impairment charges of $12,522,714 on the valueacquisition of marketable securities andUS Bookmaking, the reductionimpairment charge was due to a revision on the timing of management’s expected profitability over the earnout period. An increase in intangible assets of $5,299,979 due to amortization over the period.
On August 17, 2020, the Company closed its underwritten public offeringacquisition of 4,166,666 units at a price of $2.40 per unit for gross proceeds of $9,999,998, before underwriting commission of $800,000US Bookmaking and other offering expenses. Each unit consists of one share of common stockincluded non-compete agreements, tradenames and one five year warrant exercisable for one share of common stock at an exercise price of $2.50 per share.
Liabilities
At June 30, 2020, we had $18,862,842 in total liabilities and compared to total liabilities of $19,023,897 at December 31, 2019. The decrease is attributable to thecustomer relationships. A reduction in deferred purchase considerationcash balances and restricted cash balances of $12,338,412 primarily due to the settlementcash paid in the acquisition of US Bookmaking of $5,973,839, the cash used in operation of $7,553,511, predominantly from U.S. operations, which included the funding of expenses related to the setup of U.S. operations, including consultants and legal expenses related to licensing activities and the absorption of cash in Ulisse as it wound down its operations and settled its outstanding liabilities, including accounts payable, gaming payables and tax liabilities, offset by net proceeds from financing activities of $2,857,084, which included proceeds from warrants exercised of $3,962,482 and the repayment of the bank line of credit of $500,000 and deferred purchase consideration of $410,383.
Liabilities
At September 30, 2022, we had approximately $28.4 million and $26.8 million in total liabilities at December 31, 2021. The increase of $1.6 million is primarily attributable to an increase in contingent purchase consideration of $1.4 million due to accretion expense related to the present value discount of the contingent purchase consideration, an increase in operating lease liabilities of $0.7 million, an increase in equipment funding by the issuerelated parties of shares$0.4 million and certain cash payments madean increase in termsrelated party promissory notes of our agreement with the selling vendors,$0.3 million advanced by Mr. Salerno, offset by a promissory note received from a related partydecrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities of $300,000.approximately $1.6 million, primarily due to the concerted effort to reduce expenditure and the payment of several significant corporate legal bills during the current period.
As soon as practicable afterAt December 31, 2021, we had total liabilities of $26,837,324 compared to $15,701,626 on December 31, 2020. The increase of $11,135,698 is primarily due to the closingContingent Purchase Consideration of $12,859,399 which was fair valued during the current period based on management’s revised estimate of the offering, on August 17, 2020, we intend to repay outstanding unsecured convertible debenturesprofitability of US Bookmaking, an increase in the aggregate principal amountdeferred tax liability of $1,063,000, plus$2,069,465, a decrease in accounts payable and accrued interest thereonliabilities of approximately $236,130$1,140,867 and CDN$1,150,000 plus accrued interest thereona decrease of CDN$236,827.$474,463 in Gaming Payables, primarily due to the winding down of Ulisse operations and the repayment of longer outstanding liabilities at corporate level, a reduction in tax liabilities of $899,071 due to the lower profitability of our European operations this year, in particular, the winding down of Ulisse operations, and the repayment of the $500,000 bank line of credit.
The remaining convertible debenture holders in the aggregate principal amount of $610,000 and CDN$307,000 had extended the maturity date of their convertible debentures by between 90 and 120 days in exchange for additional warrants. These convertible debenture holders may elect repayment on maturity.
Working Capital
We had $5,783,449$4,690,034 in cash and cash equivalents at Juneon September 30, 20202022 compared to $5,182,598$7,319,765 in cash and cash equivalents on December 31, 2019.
On August 17, 2020, the Company closed its underwritten public offering of 4,166,666 units at a price of $2.40 per unit for gross proceeds of $9,999,998, before underwriting commission of $800,000 and other offering expenses. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one five year warrant exercisable for one share of common stock at an exercise price of $2.50 per share.2021.
We had a working capital deficitsurplus of $9,114,227 at June$528,062 as of September 30, 2020,2022 compared to a working capital deficit$1,556,306 as of $9,153,291 at December 31, 2019. The working capital decreased slightly over the six month period.2021.
We currently maintain a $1,000,000 secured revolving linecontinue to embark on an aggressive roll out of creditour operation in the U.S. market over the next twenty-four months and anticipate that we will need cash of approximately $10 million to $15 million to execute this successfully and to fund our increasing working capital requirements. We believe that we will need to raise additional cash resources either from Metropolitan Commercial Bank in New York, which bears a fixed rate of interest of 3% onequity markets or from debt funding during the outstanding balance with an interest only monthly minimum payment, no maturity or due date and is secured by a $1,000,000 security deposit.
We currently believe thatnear term as our existing cash resources together with the revenue from operations that we expect to generate will not be sufficient to meet our anticipated needsfund existing operations over the next twelve months from the date hereof. Historically, we have primarily financed our operations through revenue generated from providing online and offlineland-based gaming products, services, and Platform services in Italy and the sales of our securities and we expect to continue to seek to obtain required capital in a similar manner. Recently, we have spent, and expect to continue to spend, a substantial amount of funds in connection with our expansion strategy.
Accumulated Deficit
As of JuneSeptember 30, 2020,2022, we had an accumulated deficit of $25,609,781($58,436,142) compared to an accumulated deficit of $23,241,835 at$48,243,028 on December 31, 2019.2021.
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Net cash from operating activities resulted in net cash generated by operating activities of $867,577 for the six months ended June 30, 2020, compared to cash used in operating activities of $1,005,601was approximately $4.6 million and $5.3 million for the sixnine months ended JuneSeptember 30, 2019.2022 and 2021, respectively, a decrease of approximately $0.7 million. The decrease in cash used in operating activities is primarily due to the increase in cash provided by operating activities of $1,873,178 is primarily related to the decrease in net loss of $2,524,226approximately $3.3 million as discussed under results of operations above, offset by an increase in non-cash movements of approximately $3.8 million, primarily due to an increase in the movement in non-cashstock based compensation expense of approximately $1.1 million, including the accelerated amortization of deferred costsstock options granted to a severed executive whose options vested immediately and the increase in restricted stock awards of $1,359,006.$1.9 million for awards to management for reducing operating expenditure in terms of our mandate, the movement in the change in the fair value of contingent purchase consideration of approximately $0.8 million, due to the accretion expense expected on the USB earnout, and the increase in the movement of depreciation and amortization of approximately $0.4 million, primarily due the amortization of intangibles on the acquisition of USB.
Cash flows from operating activities resulted in net cash used in operating activities of $145,520$7,553,511 and $165,493 for the yearyears ended December 31, 2019, compared to net cash provided by operating activities of $1,401,302 for the year ended December 31, 2018.2021 and 2020, respectively. The $1,546,822 decrease$(7,388,018) increase in cash used in operating activities is primarily related to; (i) the increase in net loss of $(5,127,829) offset by (ii) a net movement in non-cash items of $1,148,714, including a movement in impairment costs of long-lived assets and goodwill of $12,450,628, an increase in the movement of stock option compensation expense of $1,326,513, an increase in the movement in loss on marketable securities of $750,000, offset by a change in the fair value of contingent purchase consideration of $11,857,558, the decrease in the movement in the loss on extinguishment of debt of $(719,390) and a decrease in the movement on the amortization of debt discount of $805,349; and (iii) an increase in working capital movement of $(3,408,903), primarily due to the decrease in movement of gaming accounts payable of $(1,552,573) and the movement in taxes payable of $(1,445,398), primarily related to the winding down of Ulisse operations, an increase in the movement of the gaming accounts receivable balances of $880,226 due to the increase in loss frombusiness activity at our Multigioco operation, an increase in the movement of prepaid expenses of $534,099, predominantly due to prepaid licensed software for US operations, of $5,731,702 offset by non-cash amortizationan increase in accounts payable of deferred costs of $4,097,721.$1,585,327, primarily related to an increase in payables balances at our Multigioco operation and an increase in corporate payables due to the expansion activities into the U.S. market taking place at the corporate level.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities for the sixnine months ended JuneSeptember 30, 20202022 was $87,994approximately $0.4 million compared to net cash used in investing activities of $270,433approximately $6.1 million for the sixnine months ended JuneSeptember 30, 2019.2021. In the prior period we paidmade an initial net cash of $216,150payment on the acquisition of Virtual Generation.USB of $6.0 million. During the current period we invested funds in computer related software and hardware predominantly for the U.S. based expansion strategy.
The net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 20192021 was $468,348 compared to $4,725,856$6,690,919 and $291,501 for the year ended December 31, 2018 that was attributed directly2020, the increase over the prior year is primarily due to the asset purchasesacquisition of Ulisse and Multigioco on May 31, 2018 pursuantUS Bookmaking amounting to the Ulisse Put Option and the Multigioco Put Option. During the current year we acquired Virtual Generation for an initial cash outlay,$5,973,839, net of cash receivedbalances acquired and the acquisition of $47,268property and have subsequently paidequipment and intangibles of $717,080, primarily to support the sellers an additional $672,871 in cash.U.S. expansion efforts.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Net cash used inprovided by financing activities for the sixnine months ended JuneSeptember 30, 20202022 was $7,750approximately $3.7 million compared to $101,691approximately $2.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. In the current period, a net amount of approximately $3.1 million was raised from a registered direct offering discussed above, after broker fees and expenses of
approximately $0.4 million, and a further, approximately $0.25 million was raised from ATM sales, we also raised approximately $0.4 million to fund equipment purchases required for expansion into the Ohio market and a further $0.3 million was provided by Mr. Salerno to fund the USB operation. In the prior year net cash provided by financing activities consisted primarily of net proceeds of approximately $4.0 million raised from the exercise of warrants related to the underwritten public offering in August 2020, offset by the repayment of the bank letter of credit of approximately $0.5 million and the payment of deferred purchase consideration of approximately $0.4 million.
Net cash used inprovided by financing activities for the six monthsfor the year ended June 30, 2019. TheDecember 31, 2021 was $2,857,084 and net cash used in financing activities during the current period included the repayment of deferred purchase consideration, offsetprovided by the proceeds from a promissory note issued to a related party.
Net cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 20192020 was $479,445 compared to$12,711,416. The cash providedgenerated by financing activities of $4,499,088 for the year ended December 31, 2018. We raised funding through the issue of convertible debentures in the prior year of $6,883,906 and repurchased common shares totaling $2,261,307 in the prior year. The common share repurchase was attributed to the asset purchases of Ulisse and Multigioco on May 31, 2018 pursuant to the Ulisse Put Option and the Multigioco Put Option. Induring the current year we made paymentincluded warrant exercises of $672,871 to the Virtual Generation sellers$3,962,482, offset by net proceedsthe repayment of the bank line of credit of $250,000.$500,000 and deferred purchase price payments of $410,383. In the prior year, we raised net proceeds of $8,966,122 in a public offering and further proceeds of $8,541,896 on warrants exercised, a portion of the proceeds were used to repay debentures of $2,778,349 and the bank line of credit of $500,000 as well as deferred purchase price payments of $1,577,010.
Contractual Obligations
Current accounting standards require disclosure of material obligations and commitments to make future payments under contracts, such as debt, lease agreements, and purchase obligations. Contractual obligations consist of the following:
Inflation
We do not believe that general price inflation will have a material effect on our business in the near future.The amount of future minimum lease payments under finance leases are as follows:
Foreign Exchange
Amount | ||||||
Remainder of 2022 | $ | 1,810 | ||||
2023 | 6,068 | |||||
2024 | 704 | |||||
8,582 |
We operate in several foreign countries, including Austria, Italy, Malta and Canada and we incurThe amount of future minimum lease payments under operating expenses and have foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities associated with these operations. Transactions involving our corporate expendituresleases are generally denominated in U.S. dollars and Canadian dollars while the functional currency of our subsidiaries is in Euro. Convertible debentures have also been issued in both U.S. dollars and Canadian dollars. Changes and fluctuations in the foreign exchange rate between the Euro and the U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar and the U.S. dollar will have an effect on our results of operations.as follows:
Amount | ||||||
Remainder of 2022 | $ | 92,278 | ||||
2023 | 334,306 | |||||
2024 | 267,418 | |||||
2025 | 242,980 | |||||
2026 and thereafter | 424,226 | |||||
1,361,208 |
Off-Balance-Sheet Arrangements
We have no off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenue or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources that we expect to be material to investors. We do not have any non-consolidated, special-purpose entities.
Related Party TransactionsInflation
The uncertain financial markets, disruptions in supply chains, mobility restraints, and changing priorities as well as volatile asset values could impact our business in the future. The outbreak and government measures taken in response to the pandemic have also had a significant impact, both direct and indirect, on businesses and commerce, as worker shortages have occurred; supply chains have been disrupted; facilities and production have been suspended; and demand for certain goods and services, such as our land based retail locations decreased. The future progression of the pandemic and its effects on our business and operations are uncertain. We may face difficulties recruiting employees because of the outbreak. Further, although we have not experienced any material adverse effects on our business due to increasing inflation, it has raised operating costs for many businesses and, in the future, could impact demand for our services foreign exchange rates or employee wages. We are actively monitoring the effects these disruptions and increasing inflation could have on our operations.
Notes Payable, Related Party
We had three promissory notes entered into in 2015 and 2016 with a related party with an aggregate principal amount outstanding of $318,078. The promissory notes bore interest at 12% per annum and were due on demand.
On September 4, 2019, in terms of an agreement entered into with the note holder, the promissory notes amounting to $318,078 together with interest thereon of $139,383, totaling $457,461 were exchanged for 142,956 shares of common stock.
We received an advance of $300,000 in terms of a Promissory Note (“PN”) entered into with Forte Fixtures and Millworks, Inc., a company controlled by the brother of our CEO. The PN bears no interest and is repayable on demand.
Foreign Exchange
We operate in several foreign countries, including Austria, Italy, Malta, Colombia and Canada and we incur operating expenses and have foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities associated with these operations. Transactions involving our corporate expenditures are generally denominated in U.S. dollars and Canadian dollars while the functional currency of our subsidiaries is in Euro and Colombian Pesos. Changes and fluctuations in the foreign exchange rate between the U.S. Dollar and the Euro, Canadian dollar and Colombian Peso will have an effect on our results of operations.
Related Party Transactions
Deferred Purchase consideration, Related Party
InDuring the first and second quarter of the prior year, we paid the remaining balance of €312,500 (approximately $385,121) to related parties in terms of the acquisition of Virtual Generation on January 31, 2019, we issued non-interest bearing promissory notes in the principal amount of €3,803,000 owing to both related parties and non-related parties. The value of the promissory notes payable to related parties was €1,521,200.note.
The related party promissory notes are due to Luca Pasquini, a director and officer and Gabriele Peroni, an officer.
The promissory notes are to be settled as follows:
Pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement we entered into with VG, we agreed to pay the VG Sellers an earnout payment in shares of our common stock equal to an aggregate amount of €500,000 (approximately $561,500), if the amounts of bets made by users of the VG platform grew by more than 5% for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, based on the 18,449,380 tickets sold in 2019 the VG Sellers have qualified for the earnout payment.
The amount due to the VG Sellers amounted to €200,000 (approximately $224,540) and was settled during January 2020 by the issuance of 53,094 shares of common stock at $4.23 per share.
The movement on deferred purchase consideration consists of the following:
Description | June 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||||||
December 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||
Principal Outstanding | ||||||||||||
Promissory notes due to related parties | $ | 1,279,430 | $ | 1,830,541 | $ | 382,128 | ||||||
Additional earnout earned | — | 224,540 | ||||||||||
Settled by the issuance of common shares | (446,471 | ) | (410,925 | ) | ||||||||
Repayment in cash | (92,444 | ) | (328,734 | ) | (385,121 | ) | ||||||
Foreign exchange movements | (2,174 | ) | (35,992 | ) | 2,993 | |||||||
738,341 | 1,279,430 | — | ||||||||||
Present value discount on future payments | ||||||||||||
Present value discount | (80,069 | ) | (161,393 | ) | (5,174 | ) | ||||||
Amortization | 43,779 | 78,128 | 5,133 | |||||||||
Foreign exchange movements | 565 | 3,195 | 41 | |||||||||
(35,725 | ) | (80,069 | ) | — | ||||||||
Deferred purchase consideration, net | $ | 702,616 | $ | 1,199,361 |
Equipment loan - Related Party
On September 26, 2022, the Company entered into an equipment loan agreement with Braydon Capital Corp, for the principal sum of $500,0000 of which an initial advance of $360,000 was received. The loan bears interest at 9% per annum, compounded monthly and is repayable on October 31, 2023. The loan agreement also provides for additional compensation to the lender of 1% of the gross income received from equipment funded by this loan, capped at 2% of the principal sum advanced.
Braydon Capital Corp is managed by Mr. Claudio Ciavarella, the bother of the Chairman of the Board.
The movement on the equipment loan - Related Party, consists of the following:
September 30, 2022 | ||||
Opening balance | — | |||
Loan advanced | $ | 360,000 | ||
Loan repayments | — | |||
Interest accrued | 355 | |||
Closing balance | $ | 360,355 |
Related Party (Payables) Receivables
Related party payables and receivables represent non-interest-bearing (payables) receivables that are due on demand.
The balances outstanding are as follows:
June 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | September 30, 2022 | December 31, 2021 | |||||||||||||
Related Party payables | ||||||||||||||||
Gold Street Capital Corp. | $ | (10,507 | ) | $ | (2,551 | ) | ||||||||||
Luca Pasquini | (4,407 | ) | — | $ | (161 | ) | $ | (502 | ) | |||||||
Victor Salerno | (374,346 | ) | (51,878 | ) | ||||||||||||
$ | (374,507 | ) | $ | (52,380 | ) | |||||||||||
(14,914 | ) | (2,551 | ) | |||||||||||||
Related Party Receivables | ||||||||||||||||
Luca Pasquini | $ | 1,395 | $ | 4,123 | $ | — | $ | 1,413 |
Amounts due to Gold Street Capital Corp., the major stockholder of Newgioco Group, are for reimbursement of expenses.
Amounts due to Luca Pasquini is for advances made to various subsidiaries for working capital purposes.
Michele Ciavarella
On July 5, 2019, we issued to Mr. Ciavarella, the Chief Executive Officer and chairman of the board and officer, ten year options to purchase 39,375 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.96 per share.
On August 29, 2019, we issued to Mr. Ciavarella ten year options to purchase 25,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.80 per share.
On September 4, 2019, Mr. Ciavarella converted $500,000 of accrued salaries into 125,000 shares of common stock at. Conversion price of $4.00 per share.
Gold Street Capital
Gold Street Capital is wholly owned by Gilda Ciavarella, the spouse of Mr. Ciavarella.
On September 4, 2019, we issued 15,196 shares of common stock to Gold Street Capital in settlement of $48,508 of advances made to us for certain reimbursable expenses.
Luca Pasquini
On January 31, 2019, wethe Company acquired Virtual Generation for €4,000,000 (approximately $4,576,352), Mr. Pasquini, who at the time of acquisition was an executive officer and director of the Corporation, was a 20% owner of Virtual Generation and was due gross proceeds of €800,000 (approximately $915,270). The gross proceeds of €800,000 was to be settled by a payment in cash of €500,000 over a twelve month period and by the issuance of common stock valued at €300,000 over an eighteen month period. As of June 30, 2020, we had2021, the Company has paid Mr. Pasquini the full cash amount of €145,600€500,000 (approximately $162,639)$604,380) and issued 98,405112,521 shares valued at €215,800€300,000 (approximately $241,313)$334,791).
In addition, due toOn January 22, 2021, the attainment of an earnout clause per the agreement, a further €500,000 (approximately $561,351) was earned as of December 31, 2019, of whichCompany issued Mr. Pasquini’s share was €100,000 (approximately $112,270), which earnout was settled by the issue of 26,547Pasquini 44,968 shares of common stock during January 2020.valued at $257,217, in settlement of accrued compensation due to him.
On August 29, 2019, we issuedJuly 11, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with Engage IT Services Srl.("Engage"), to provide gaming software and maintenance and support of the system, the total contract price was €390,000 (approximately $459,572), in addition, on October 14, 2021, the Company entered into a further agreement with Engage, to provide gaming software and maintenance and support of the system for a period of 12 months, the total contract price was €1,980,000 (approximately $2,192,000). Mr. Pasquini tenowns 34% of Engage
On September 13, 2021, Mr. Pasquini, the Company’s Vice President of Technology, resigned as a director of the Company and on October 4, 2021, Mr. Pasquini became the Global Head of Engineering of the Company’s subsidiary Odissea Betriebsinformatik Beratung GmbH and ceased to be Vice President of Technology and an executive officer of the Company.
On September 26, 2022, Mr. Pasquini was awarded 500,000 restricted shares of common stock valued at $226,750.
Michele Ciavarella
Mr. Ciavarella, the Company’s Executive Chairman of the Board, agreed to receive $140,000 of his 2021 fiscal year compensation as a restricted stock award, on January 22, 2021, the Company issued Mr. Ciavarella 24,476 shares of common stock valued at $140,000 on the date of issue.
On January 22, 2021, the Company issued Mr. Ciavarella 175,396 shares of common stock valued at $1,003,265, in settlement of accrued compensation due to him.
On July 15, 2021, Mr. Ciavarella, Executive Chairman of the Company, was appointed as the interim Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company, effective July 15, 2021. Mr. Ciavarella will serve as the Company's Executive Chairman and interim Chief Executive Officer until the earlier of his resignation or removal from office.
Mr. Ciavarella agreed to receive his 2021 bonus and a portion of his 2022 salary as a restricted stock award. On January 7, 2022, the Company issued Mr. Ciavarella 162,835 shares of common stock valued at $425,000 on the date of issue.
On September 26, 2022, Mr. Ciavarella was awarded 300,000 restricted shares of common stock valued at $136,080 for services rendered to the Company.
Carlo Reali
On January 5, 2022, the Company promoted Carlo Reali to the role of Interim Chief Financial Officer.
On March 29, 2022, the Company issued Mr. Reali ten-year options to purchase 25,000exercisable for 100,000 shares of common stock, at an exercise price of $2.80$2.50 per share.share, vesting equally over a 4 year period commencing on January 1, 2023.
Gabriele PeroniThe Company does not have a formal employment or other compensation related agreement with Mr. Reali; however, Mr. Reali will continue to receive the same compensation that he currently receives which is an annual base salary of €76,631 (approximately $83,847).
On January 31, 2019, we acquired Virtual Generation Limited for €4,000,000 (approximately $4,576,352),September 26, 2022, Mr. PeroniReali was a 20% owner of Virtual Generation and was due gross proceeds of €800,000 (approximately $915,270). The gross proceeds of €800,000 was to be settled by a payment in cash of €500,000 over a twelve month period and by the issuanceawarded 200,000 restricted shares of common stock valued at €300,000 over an eighteen month period. As of June 30, 2020, we had paid Mr. Peroni cash of €187,200 (approximately $209,107) and issued 98,405 shares valued at €215,800 (approximately $241,313).$90,720 for services rendered to the Company.
In addition, due toVictor Salerno
On July 15, 2021 the attainmentCompany consummated the acquisition of an earnout clause perUSB and in terms of the agreement,Purchase Agreement the Company acquired 100% of USB, from its members (the “Sellers”). Mr. Salerno was a further €500,000 (approximately $561,351) was earned as68% owner of December 31, 2019,USB and received $4,080,000 of which Mr. Peroni’s share was €100,000 (approximately $112,270), which earnout was settled by the issue$6,000,000 paid in cash upon closing and 860,760 of 26,547the 1,265,823 shares of common stock during January 2020.issued on closing.
Together with the consummation of the acquisition of USB, the Company entered into a 4 year employment agreement with Mr. Salerno terminating on July 14, 2025 (the “Salerno Employment Agreement”), automatically renewable for a period of one year unless notified by either party of non-renewal. The employee will earn an initial base salary of $0 and thereafter $150,000 per annum commencing on January 1, 2022. Mr. Salerno is entitled to bonuses, equity incentives and benefits consistent with those of other senior employees.
Mr. Salerno may be terminated for no cause or resign for good reason, which termination would entitle him to the greater of one year’s salary or the remaining term of the employment agreement plus the highest annual incentive bonus paid to him during the past two years. If Mr. Salerno is terminated for cause he is entitled to all unpaid salary and expenses due to him at the time of termination. If the employment agreement is terminated due to death, his heirs and successors are entitled to all unpaid salary, unpaid expenses and one times his annual base salary. Termination due to disability will result in Mr. Salerno being paid all unpaid salary and expenses and one times annual salary.
Pursuant to the Salerno Employment Agreement, Mr. Salerno has also agreed to customary restrictions with respect to the disclosure and use of the Company’s confidential information and has agreed that work product or inventions developed or conceived by him while employed with the Company relating to its business is the Company’s property. In addition, during the term of his employment and if terminated for cause for the 12 month period following his termination of employment, Mr. Salerno has agreed not to (1) perform services on behalf of a competing business which was the same or similar to the type of services he was authorized, conducted, offered or provided to the Company, (2) solicit or induce any of the Company’s employees or independent contractors to terminate their employment with the Company, (3) solicit any actual or prospective customers with whom he had material contact on behalf of a competing business or (4) solicit any actual or prospective vendors with whom he had material contact to support a competing business.
On August 29, 2019, we issuedSeptember 13, 2021, the Board appointed Mr. Salerno, the President and founder of the Company’s newly acquired subsidiary, USB, to serve as a member of the Board.
Prior to the acquisition of USB, Mr. Salerno had advanced USB $100,000 of which $50,000 was forgiven and the remaining $50,000 is still owing to Mr. Peroni,Salerno, which amount earns interest at 8% per annum, compounded monthly and is repayable on December 31, 2023.
Between February 23, 2022 and September 22, 2022, Mr. Salerno advanced USB a total of $305,000 in terms of purported promissory notes, bearing interest at 10% per annum and repayable between June 30, 2022 and November 30, 2022. These purported promissory notes contain a default clause whereby any unpaid principal would attract an additional 25% penalty. These notes were advanced to USB without the consent of the Company, which is required as per the terms of the Members Interest Purchase Agreement entered into on July 15, 2021. Therefore the Company acknowledges the advance of funds to USB by Mr. Salerno, however the terms of the advance and the default penalty have not been accepted and are subject to negotiation or dispute. As of September 30, 2022, these notes remain outstanding, interest has been accrued on these notes, however we intend to dispute the validity of these notes and have accordingly not repaid them or accrued penalty interest in terms of these disputed notes.
Paul Sallwasser
On September 13, 2021, the Company granted Mr. Sallwasser ten year options to purchase 25,000exercisable for 21,300 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.80 per share.$5.10, vesting equally over a twelve month period commencing on September 13, 2021.
Alessandro MarcelliSteven Shallcross
On August 29, 2019, weJanuary 22, 2021, the Company issued to Mr. Marcelli, an officer,Shallcross, a director of the Company, 5,245 shares of common stock valued at $30,000, in settlement of directors’ fees due to him.
On September 13, 2021, the Company granted Mr. Shallcross ten year options to purchase 25,000exercisable for 13,600 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.80 per share.$5.10, vesting equally over a twelve month period commencing on September 13, 2021.
Franco SalvagniAndrea Mandel-Mantello
On AugustJune 29, 2019, we issued2021, the Board of Directors of the Company appointed Mr. Mandel-Mantello to serve as a member of the Board. The appointment was effective immediately. Mr. Salvagni, an officerMandel-Mantello serves on the audit committee of ours,the Board.
On September 13, 2021, the Company granted Mr. Mandel-Mantello ten year options to purchase 25,000exercisable for 13,600 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.80 per share.$5.10, vesting equally over a twelve month period commencing on September 13, 2021.
Beniamino GianfeliciCritical Accounting Estimates
On August 29, 2019,Preparation of our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of certain assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, as well as related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. Significant accounting policies are fundamental to understanding our financial condition and results as they require the use of estimates and assumptions which affect the financial statements and accompanying notes. See Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies of the Notes to the financial statements included in this prospectus for further information.
The critical accounting policies that involved significant estimation included the following:
Impairment of Indefinite Lived Assets and Goodwill
At September 30, 2022, we issuedcarried intangible assets in the amount of $14.4 million and goodwill in the amount of $16.2 million and as of December 31, 2022 we carried intangible assets in the amount of $15.6 million and goodwill in the amount of $16.2 as more fully described in Notes 7 and 8 to Mr. Gianfelici,the financial statements included in this prospectus. The intangible assets and goodwill are allocated between reporting units. We test our goodwill and intangible assets with an officerindefinite useful life annually for impairment or more frequently if indicators for impairment exist. Impairment for goodwill is determined by comparing the fair value of ours, tenthe respective reporting unit to their carrying amount. For impairment testing of indefinite-lived intangibles. We determine the fair value of the reporting units using an income-based approach which estimates the fair value using a discounted cash flow model. Key assumptions in estimating fair values include projected revenue growth and the weighted average cost of capital. In addition, management recently reviewed the future revenue and profit projections of USB based on the forecasts provided by the vendors at the time of performing the business valuation, which factored in the ability to source new customers. The customer acquisition process has proven to take longer than expected with a resultant downward revision of new customers acquired over the forecast period and the resultant downward impact on forecasted revenue streams. We reviewed the forecasts and made appropriate adjustments based on our current understanding of the addressable market, the growth rates forecast by third party market analysts, our expected share of revenue and the expectation of how many new clients we would realistically be able to add over the forecast period. Since performing this analysis, we have assumed operational management of this entity and are currently assessing the revenues and expenditures associated with the operation, currently we do not believe that further impairment is necessary, however, once we have reviewed the revenue base and improved the operational efficiencies, which we expect to have completed by year options to purchase 25,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.80 per share.end, we will readdress the impairment analysis.
Fair Value of Contingent Consideration
As of September 30, 2022, we carried contingent purchase consideration in the amount of $14.3 million and as of December 31, 2021, we carried contingent purchase consideration in the amount of $12.9 million. The contingent consideration relates to the business combination of US Bookmaking on July 15, 2021. The contingent consideration as more fully described in Note 12 to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 and Note 14 to the audited consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 included in this prospectus. The contingent consideration relates to the business combination of USB on July 15, 2021. The contingent consideration is based upon achievement of certain EBITDA milestones during the next 4 years, payable 50% in cash and 50% in stock, the contingent consideration is up to $41.8 million. At each reporting period, the Company estimates changes in the fair value of the contingent consideration and any change in fair value is recognized in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive (loss) income.
The basis for determining contingent purchase consideration at each reporting period is based on cumulative EBITDA for the period July 15, 2021 to December 31, 2025, with the first measurement period being December 31, 2022. The forecasts provided by the vendors at the time of performing the business valuation was based on achieving a certain number of new customers on an annual basis. The customer acquisition process has proven to take longer than expected with a resultant impact on forecasted revenue streams over the contingent earnout period. Management revised its estimated revenues as of December 31, 2021. These forecasts were reviewed and adjusted to ensure they appeared reasonable based on our current understanding of the addressable market, the growth rates forecast by third party market analysts, our expected share of revenue and the expectation of how many new clients we would realistically be able to add in a fiscal period. Based on our discussion under impairment of indefinite lived assets and goodwill, we are currently assessing the USB business and expect to have completed our analysis by December 31, 2021, the result which may impact the carrying value of intangibles, goodwill and the contingent purchase consideration.
Business Combination
As of July 15, 2021, we acquired 100% of US Bookmaking for a consideration of $6 million in cash, the issuance of 1,265,823 shares of our common stock plus an opportunity to the seller to receive up to an additional $41.8 million based upon achievement of certain EBITDA milestones during the upcoming four years as more fully described in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements. We determined the fair values of the tangible and intangible assets acquired and the liabilities assumed using valuation techniques, and goodwill using an income-based approach which estimates the fair value using a discounted cash flow model. Key assumptions in estimating fair values include projected revenue growth and the weighted average cost of capital (WACC).
We retained the services of a specialist valuation company to assist in assessing the reasonableness of the assumptions used in valuing the business as well as to perform a purchase price allocation. These assumptions were deemed reasonable at the time of performing the valuation.
Mark KorbRecently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
On July 5, 2019, weSee Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies of the Notes to the financial statements included in this prospectus for information regarding recently issued to Mr. Korb, the chief financial officer of us, seven year options to purchase 25,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.72 per share.
Paul Sallwasser
On July 5, 2019, we issued to Mr. Sallwasser, a director of ours, ten year options to purchase 20,625 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.96 per share.
Steven Shallcross
On July 5, 2019, the Company issued to Mr. Shallcross, a director of ours, ten year options to purchase 10,313 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.96 per share.accounting standards.
BUSINESS
Company Overview
Company Overview
We are an international, vertically integrated commercial-stage company engaged in two principal aspects of the leisure gaming industry as (1) a business-to-consumer (“B2C”) licensed retail gaming operator (known as an “Operator”) offering our products through two sales distribution channels in (i) retail land-based or on-site physical venues and (ii) online through PC, tablet and mobile distribution, and (2) as a business-to-business (“B2B”) betting technology provider (known as a “Provider”) offering our proprietary betting technology either (1) directly to licensed operators or (2) through value-added re-sellers or systems integrators in the leisure betting industry.
As an Operator in the regulated Italian leisure betting market, we operate on a single-tier distribution strategy by collecting wagers on leisure betting products including a variety of lottery, casino gaming and sports bets through two channels: (i) online through websites on internet browsers, mobile applications and physical venues known as “web-shops” (internet cafes; kiosks, coffee-shops, convenience stores, restaurants and bars, etc.) where patrons can load their online gaming account through PC’s situated at each venue, and (ii) land-based through physical land-based retail venues (off-track betting shops, SSBT (“self-serve betting terminal”) kiosks, coffee-shops, convenience stores, restaurants, taverns and bars, etc.). We currently provide our business-to-consumer (“B2C”) gaming services in Italy through our subsidiaries,subsidiary, Multigioco, Srl (“Multigioco”), and Ulisse GmbH (“Ulisse”). Thesewhich operations are carried out undervia both land-based andor online retail gaming licenses regulated by the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (“ADM”), and our Austrian Bookmaker license,ADM that permitpermits us to distribute leisure betting products such as sports betting, lotto tickets,and virtual sports betting online poker and casino gaming products through both physical, land-based retail locations as well as online through our licensed principal website www.newgioco.it or commercial webskins linked to our principallicensed website and through mobile devices.
In Italy, our gaming products Management implemented a consolidation strategy in the Italian market by integrating all B2C operations into Multigioco and services are offeredallowed the Austria Bookmaker license that was regulated by the BMF to customers at the following three venues:terminate.
We currently service approximately 79,000 active online user accountsalso provide bookmaking services in the U.S. market via our recently acquired subsidiary USB in certain regulated states where we offer B2B bookmaking and platform services to our customers. Our intention is to focus our attention on expanding the U.S. market. We recently began operations in Washington, D.C. through a Class B Managed Service Provider and Class B Operator license to operate a sportsbook within the Grand Central Restaurant and Sportsbook located in the Adams Morgan area of Washington, D.C., and in October 2021 we entered into an indeterminate numberagreement with Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City and commenced operations in the state of walk-in customers at a combination of the three types of venues: 1,200 web-cafés (or “web-shops”), 7 corners and 117 agency locations.New Jersey in March 2022.
As a globalAdditionally, we provide B2B gaming technology Provider, we ownthrough our Odissea subsidiary which owns and operateoperates a betting software designed with a unique “distributed model” architecture colloquially named Elys Game Board (the “Platform”).Board. The Platform is a fully integrated “omni-channel” framework that combines centralized technology for updating, servicing and operations with multi-channel functionality to accept all forms of customer payment through the two distribution channels described above. The omni-channel software design is fully integrated with a built in player gaming account management system, built-in sports book and a built-invirtual sports book. Asplatform through our Virtual Generation subsidiary. The Platform also provides seamless application programming interface integration of third-party supplied products such as online casino, poker, lottery and horse racing and has the capability to incorporate e-sports and daily fantasy sports providers. Management implemented a Provider,growth strategy to expand B2B gaming technology operations in the U.S. and is considering further expansion in Canada and Latin American countries in the near future.
Our corporate group is based in North America, which includes an executive suite situated in Las Vegas, Nevada and a Canadian office in Toronto, Ontario through which we employ carry-out corporate activities, handle day-to-day reporting and U.S. development planning, and through which various employees, independent contractors and vendors are engaged.
We believe that our Platform is considered one of the newest betting software platforms in the world and our plan is to expand our Platform offering to new jurisdictions around the world on B2B basis, including expansion through Europe, South America, South Africa and the developing market in the United States. We also generate service revenue from royalties through authorized agents by providing our virtual sports products through our Virtual Generation subsidiary and generated service revenues through the provision of bookmaking and platform services through our recently acquired subsidiary, Bookmakers Company US, LLC d/b/a multi-tierU.S. Bookmaking (“US Bookmaking”). We intend to leverage our partnerships in these countries to cross-sell our Platform services to expand the global distribution strategy on both a direct to customer channel and on a Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) basis.of our betting solutions.
The Platform is certified by the ADM, and the Malta Gaming Authority (“MGA”) in Malta and Gaming Laboratories International (“GLI”) and is owned by our subsidiary Odissea Betriebsinformatik Beratung GmbH (“Odissea”).subsidiary. The software architecture was developed and built on the latest Microsoft.Net Core framework, supporting both online customer gaming accounts as well as land-based bet processing capability with multi-channel functionality accepting all forms of payment methods (i.e., cash, e-wallet, bank card and wire transfer, etc.) backed by a real-time customer relationship management (“CRM”) and business intelligence (“BI”) program for streamlined cross-platform marketing as well as a synchronized financial accounting processes. Data is communicated directly to on-the-ground sales and marketing agents that manage and maintain both our online and land-based retail distribution. The Platform allows our independent B2B and white-label end userscustomers to (i) rapidly and effectively model their gaming businesses and clientmanage gaming accounts, (ii) monitor and analyze performance on an ongoing basis, (iii) share dashboards, and (iv) generate management reports all within a fully integrated solution. In addition, our clients can use the built-in artificial intelligence and adaptive business intelligence modules to evaluate actual performance and leverage insights from analytics to make informed, timely decisions to drive future business. The unique ’shop-client’ architecture of the Platform is to our knowledge is the first of its kinda one-of-a-kind solution in the leisure betting industry. Elys was built around the specific needs of leisure betting operators and proven through our existing Multigioco distribution throughout Italy.
On January 30, 2019,
Our intention is to focus our attention on developing and expanding the U.S. market. We currently provide gaming services in the U.S. market on a B2B basis via our recently acquired subsidiary , US Bookmaking, in certain licensed states where we offer bookmaking and platform services to our customers and recently expanded our operations with our acquisitionis Washington, D.C. through a Class B Managed Service Provider and Class B Operator license to operate a sportsbook within the Grand Central Bar and Grill located in the Adams Morgan area of Virtual Generation Limited (“VG” or “Virtual Generation”), which owns and has developed a virtual gaming software platform (“VGS”)Washington, D.C., and its holding company, Naos Holdings Limited (“Naos”). VGhave recently entered into an agreement to provide services with another location in Washington, D.C. In addition, in March 2022 we commenced operations with Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Our penetration into the U.S. market is a Gaming Laboratories International (“GLI”) certifiedsignificant as we have demonstrated that we can provide our bookmaking and platform services to both smaller retail locations and large casino operators using the same technology and platform base for all potential customers with minimal modification required to our operating systems and bookmaking services, which is extremely cost effective.
We provide our gaming services in Italy through our subsidiary, Multigioco, which operations are carried out via both land-based or online retail gaming licenses regulated by the ADM that permits us to distribute leisure betting products such as sports betting, and virtual sports and gaming software developer with a portfolio ofbetting products including greyhound and horse racing; league play football (i.e., soccer); keno; and American Roulette. In addition, VG’s platform allows for customization for country-specific sports generation including applications in Latin American and African marketsthrough both physical, land-based retail locations as well as unique tribal games tailoredonline through our licensed website www.newgioco.it or commercial webskins linked to our licensed website and through mobile devices. Our Austria Bookmaker license that was regulated by the BMF permitted us to operate online sports betting in certain European jurisdictions through our subsidiary, Ulisse GmbH (“Ulisse”), under the free-trade principles incorporated within bilateral Intra-EU trade agreements that refers to all trade, including e-commerce transactions in most goods, services and products between member states of the European Union (“EU”). Since the majority of Ulisse Data Transmission Centers (CTD) locations were not expected to re-open after the COVID-19 related lockdowns in Italy subsided, management decided to simplify our Italian footprint by focusing our investment towards the Multigioco operations and discontinued Ulisse presence in Italy during Q2-2021. Management decided during the fourth quarter of 2021 to focus all of its attention and technical resources on developing the significant opportunities and new business leads in the U.S. market. After careful consideration of the potential of developing gaming operations in the Austrian and other European markets, management decided to let the Austrian license lapse, which resulted in a license impairment charge of $4,827,914.
In Italy, our gaming products and services are offered to customers throughout the following three distribution channels:
· | Online gaming websites or mobile solutions where players, through an online account and an e-wallet, using the internet, can play online poker, online casinos games, sports betting wagers, play i-lottery games etc. |
· | Punti Virtuali di Ricarica (“PVR”) (translated as Virtual Reload Centers) or Web-shop (“web cafe” or “internet cafe”): A PVR or web-shop is a physical location that is operated by third-party independent businesses that promote our online gaming websites, acquires online customers and via manned or self-service automated terminals permit online-players to make cash deposits that are electronically credited to their personal online gaming accounts. While at the PVR online-players could also play games and wager through their personal online account by using the public internet accessing communal PC’s available at the venue. |
· | Corner or Punto Sportivo (translated as Sporting Point-of-sale): A corner is distinguished from an agency insofar as the principal business situated at the location that is operated by third-party independent businesses and is an activity that is primarily different from gaming (such as a coffee shop or convenience store) with a terminal connected to the ADM network. The primary purpose of such facility is not gaming, but rather, there is only a small ‘corner’ for extra cash flow in exchange for a fee and/or commission. Specifically, a maximum of 30% of floor space of a corner location can be dedicated to gaming where gaming transactions are collected and processed by a counter clerk. |
We currently service approximately 98,000 online user accounts and an indeterminate number of walk-in customers at a combination of the three types of venues: approximately 1,300 web-shops, 44 corners, with an additional 65 to be activated before Q2 2023, and 1 land based shop.
For the period ended September 30, 2022, transaction revenue generated through our subsidiary Multigioco consisted of wagering and gaming transaction income broken down to: (i) spread on sports bet wagers, and (ii) fixed rate commissions on casino, poker, lotto and horse racing wagers from online based betting web-shops and websites as well as land-based retail betting shops located throughout Italy; while our service revenue generated by our Platform is primarily derived from bet and wager processing in Italy through Multigioco, and in the U.S., through Elys Gameboard Technologies and USB. During the second quarter of 2021, management simplified our Italian footprint by focusing investments towards our Multigioco operations and discontinued Ulisse since the majority of CTD locations were not expected to re-open after the COVID-19 related lockdowns in Italy subsided. For the year ended December 31, 2021, transaction revenue generated through our subsidiaries Multigioco and Ulisse consisted of wagering and gaming transactions income broken down to: (i) spread on sports bet wagers, and (ii) fixed rate commissions on casino, poker, lotto and horse racing wagers from online based betting web-shops and websites as well as land-based retail betting shops located throughout Italy; while our service revenue generated by our Platform is primarily derived from bet and wager processing through Multigioco and Odissea.
In the USA we operate as a B2B, the same as the “Corner or Punto Sportivo”. We are licensed to operate in Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia) and New Jersey. The locations oversee the wagers and paying out winnings and use our technology and support for the U.S. tribal gaming market. VG’s operations have grown inbookmaking services and our operating platform. We earn revenue generated from the highly competitive virtual sports market to approximately 18.5 million bet tickets sold in 2019. VG now operates inuse of the following 12 countries: Italy, Peru, Nigeria, Paraguay, Albania, Honduras, Colombia, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Uganda, Nicaragua, and Turkey.Platform as well as a share of the Net Gaming Revenue (NGR).
Organizational Structure
Our operations are carried out through three geographically organized groups: (i) an operational group which isgroups based in Europe and maintains administrative offices headquartered in Rome, Italy withand satellite offices for operations administration and risk management trading in Naples and Teramo, Italy and San Gwann, Malta;Malta, as well as Las Vegas, Nevada for U.S. operations; (ii) a technology group which is based in Innsbruck, Austria and manages software development, training and administration; and (iii) a corporate group which is based in North America and operates out of our principalmaintains an executive officessuite in Las Vegas, Nevada and a Canadian office in Toronto, Canada and satellite offices in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, FloridaOntario through which we carry outcarry-out corporate activities, handle day-to-day reporting duties,and U.S. development planning, and through which various employees, independent contractors and vendors are engaged.
Our revenue streams primarily consistsStrategy
Our goal is to expand our market presence by expanding our penetration into the U.S. market, entering new foreign markets while at the same time further penetrating the Italian and additional European markets. We expect the U.S. market and other new markets, such as Canada and Africa, to be a large source of transactional revenue and service revenue. Through our subsidiaries Multigioco acquired on August 15, 2014 and Ulisse acquired July 1, 2016,future growth, in particular, the U.S. market is one where we generate transactional revenue through collectionintend to offer the use of bets from sports wagering and gaming from online betting and land-based betting shops located throughout Italy, and through our subsidiary, Odissea acquired July 1, 2016, we generate service revenue from providing our Platform services to third partyexisting commercial and tribal casinos, retail betting operators on a B2B basis. In addition, our revenue during the year ended December 31, 2019 included revenue generated by VG acquired January 30, 2019, for 11 months of the year ended December 31, 2019, consisting of royalties invoiced for the sale of virtual games through authorized agents. We generated revenue of $35,583,131 for the year ended December 31, 2019 and $34,575,097 for the year ended December 31, 2018, respectively, and we generated revenue of $14,980,443 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and $18,371,648 for the six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively. Substantially all of our revenue was generated from operations or services provided in Italy. For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, net gaming revenues represented 98.9% and 99.2%, and net gaming revenues represented 99.8% and 99.1% for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and June 30, 2019, respectively of our revenue and Platform and service revenue represented 1.1% and 0.8%, and Platform and service revenue represented 0.2% and 0.9% for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and June 30, 2019, respectively of revenue. We also formed a non-operating subsidiary Newgioco Group, Inc in Canada on January 17, 2017 for potential future operations in Canada, Elys Technology Group, Limited in Malta on April 4, 2019 for future opportunities, on November 26, 2019 we formed Newgioco Colombia SAS to develop our operations through South and Central America, and on May 28, 2020 we formed Elys Gameboard Technologies, LLC in State of Delaware for development of our U.S. sports betting operations.franchise enterprises.
Our Strengths
We believe we have established ourselves as one of the leaders in the Italian leisure betting market. Below are our strengths that we believe should enable us to capture a meaningful share of the United States and global leisure betting market:
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Our StrategyDevelopment of Foreign Markets
Our goal isThe North America Sports Betting Market.
In the U.S., until 2018 the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 combined with the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (“PASPA” or the “Bradley Act”), prohibited sports betting in the U.S. in all but four grandfathered states (Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Delaware). In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned PASPA in a 6-3 decision that found the law conflicted with the Tenth Amendment leaving individual states to expand ourdecide whether to allow its residents to bet on sports. As described below under the section “Developments in the U.S. Market”, many states, such as New Jersey, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and others, have moved quickly to establish sports betting as a means to increase their respective capital resources. While several states have recently passed legislation to allow online gambling, we believe that the U.S. sports betting market presence by entering new foreign markets while at the same time further penetrating the Italian and additional European markets.will take 5 – 10 years to fully develop. We expect new markets to be a large source of our future growth, in particular,believe that the United States represents a large addressable market is one whereopportunity for us with our Elys betting Platform. Additionally, in Canada we are observing promising legislative developments and we expect a new digital gaming regulatory framework, combined with the permission of single-wagering sport betting events, to be in place soon. This additional jurisdiction could represent a meaningful opportunity for our gaming solution.
Mergers and Acquisition in the Global Gaming Industry.
Mergers and Acquisition in the Global Gaming Industry. In an effort to scale and grow the business, we intend to offerevaluate potential acquisitions that can be easily integrated into our business. The global gaming industry is still very much fragmented. There have been a significant number of noteworthy consolidations such as: (1) The Stars Group/SkyBet (July 2018) and CrownBet/William Hill Australia (April 2018); (2) Paddy Power/Betfair (February 2016) and with Stars Group (April 2020); (3) GVC/BWIN Ladbrokes/Coral (March 2018), and (4) in gaming machine and lottery concentration (IGT/GTECH (April 2015); as well as others such as Pollard/Innova (July 2017); NYX Gaming Group/Scientific Games (January 2018), which we believe provide us with an opportunity to capitalize on the useacquisition of smaller operators forced to compete against newly formed larger players. In addition to the above, and specifically in the U.S., we observed consolidations and acceleration of gaming operators acquiring sports betting technology providers like (1) DraftKings acquiring SBTech (April 2020; (2) Caesars Entertainment acquiring William Hill (September 2020); and (3) Bally’s Corporation acquiring Bet.Works (November 2020) which strengthens our Platform to existing commercial and tribal casinos, retailposition as one of few remaining, truly independent sport betting operators and franchise enterprises.providers in the market.
Development of U.S. and Other Foreign Markets
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Further Penetration in the Italian Market
Acquisitions of Smaller |
Government legislated consolidation of the regulated Italian lottery and gaming market have driven smaller regional operators in Italy to our licensed brand “New Gioco”TM in both the online and land-based sales channels. The Italian regulated gaming market is the largest in the EU and is extremely fragmented. Recent new regulations in Italy have made it more difficult for smaller regional operators throughout Italy to operate and we believe that our innovative and cost-effective Platform is an attractive alternative for such smaller regional operators throughout Italy that will not be able to maintain the new standards set out by the Italian regulator on their own.
Organic Growth. |
The Italian online gaming market continues to drive substantial growth in our core operations. From January 1, 2021 through November 15, 2023, we increased the number of registered online accounts to approximately 98,000 players and webshop locations we operate in Italy to approximately 1,300 and believe that there is ample room for continued growth in the Italian market.
DevelopmentExpansion and New Markets
Developments in the U.S. Market
In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court (“SCOTUS”) ruled that the PASPA was unconstitutional as it violated the Tenth Amendment prohibition against forcing states to implement federal laws. Enacted in 1992, PASPA generally prohibited states from authorizing, licensing or sponsoring betting on competitive games in which amateur or professional athletes participate. PASPA did not make sports betting a federal crime; rather, it allowed the attorney general for the Department of Justice, as well as professional and amateur sports organizations, to bring civil actions to enjoin violations of the act. The SCOTUS decision opens the door for all states to legalize and regulate sports gambling within their borders. States such as Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Montana, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, New York, New Mexico, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Michigan, Mississippi, Colorado and the District of Columbia have passed laws that were ready to be enacted once the federal ban on sports betting was lifted. In addition, additional states including Maine, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio and Maryland are considering active bills.
We believe that the U.S. sports betting and online gaming market presents a large opportunity to deploy our Platform on a SaaSbusiness-to-business-to-consumer (“B2B2C”) basis to several potential independent commercial and tribal casino and gaming operators throughout the United States following a 2018States. In September 2020, our retail sports betting solution obtained Gaming Laboratories International (“GLI”) certification allowing our technology to be ready for deployment in the U.S. Supreme Court decision. Weland-based gaming segment. Furthermore, we have analyzed the technical specifications checklist supplied by Gaming Laboratories International (“GLI”)GLI to verify that coding in our softwareonline product meets the functional specifications set forth in the GLI-33 standards (The Gaming Laboratories InternationalGLI’s technical standard for event wagering systems). We believe that ourOur online Platform currently meets the majority ofhad met the GLI-33 certification standards and we expect to bewas certified in a position to send our software to GLI for certification in two phases as follows: (1) the first phase began on July 15, 2020, is expected to last about six weeks for verification of retail functionality (such as POS and SSBT); and (2) the second phase intended to begin by October 2020 for the verification of mobile and website functionality. Upon obtaining GLI-33 certification and obtaining regulatory approvals to operate, we expect to be well-positioned to commence processing sports bets in the U.S. on a SaaS basis through our Platform.2022.
As part of our multi-year business growth strategy, during 2021 and 2020 we made significant investments for expansion into new markets outsidethe U.S. market with the acquisition of Italy, including preparationUS Bookmaking, the acquisition of the platform for theoperating licenses and customers in Washington, D.C. and New Jersey and GLI-33 certification of our Platform, professional services, trade show marketing and brand promotion in the second half of 2018 and first half of 2019 to enter and then to build a foundation aimed at accelerating our recently announced U.S. expansion plans. To support these principal objectives, we initiated an ambitious investment strategy that is fundamental to the successful execution of our long-term business plan. These fundamental investments have resulted in short-term, non-recurring expenses related to key elements such as regulatory and policy requirements and establishing a centralized US-based headquarters. In the third quarter of 2018, we also established a plan to relocate our CEO to the U.S., commenced the recruitment and evaluation of key officers, as well as allocating a software development team at Odissea for coding and submission of our Platform for GLI-33 certification to GLI for the U.S. market.
In March 2019, we entered into a five-year agreement with Fleetwood Gaming, Inc. for the exclusive rights to distribute our Platform at select non-tribal locations such as sports bars and taverns in the state of Montana. The multi-year agreement is expected to allow Fleetwood to install our Platform throughout Fleetwood's distribution network in Montana.
In April 2019, we entered into a five-year agreement with the Chippewa Cree Tribe in Box Elder, Montana to install our Platform at the Northern Winz Casino. In this regard, in September 2019, we transacted the first legal Class 1 real-money bet in the U.S. on Indian Horse Relay Racing and on December 21, 2019 on traditional Indian Stick Game. Class 1 betting represents traditional indigenous sporting events or games that are not classed as mainstream sports bets.
In October 2019, we entered into a multi-year agreement with Grand Central, LLC, a retail sports bar operator in Washington, DC to provide sports betting products and services in their establishments upon the completion of their licensing process.
On May 28, 2020, the Company organized Elys Gameboard Technologies, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary for the purpose of expanding the Company's sports betting operations throughout the US. The Company is in the process of seeking its first sports betting license in Washington, DC and anticipates launching its new US sports betting platform with its first US operator client by the end of 2020.
On June 11,September 1, 2020, our Odissea subsidiary passed Stage 1 of the ISO-27001obtained ISO-27001:2013 certification process for safety management which involves an informal review of the Information Security Management System (ISMS), for example, checking the existence and completeness of key documentation such as the organization's information security policy, Statement of Applicability (SoA) and Risk Treatment Plan (RTP).management. The procedures for Stage 2 certification, involvesprocess involved a more detailed and formal compliance audit and independent testing of the ISMS againstInformation Security Management System (ISMS) that now certifies Odissea to manage the requirements specified in ISO-27001,security of sensitive third party information such as financial assets, legal and is expected to be completed in approximately 4 months.personal details.
In September 2020, we engaged Matteo Monteverdi, former senior executive of Sportradar and IGT as President of the Company.
The commencement of betting transactions in Montana and Washington, DC are subject to obtaining the required certification, licensing and approvals from the Gambling Control Division of the Montana Department of Justice and the District of Columbia Office of the Lottery and Charitable Games, respectively, which has not been determined as of the date of this registration statement.
Products and Services and Distribution Methods
Betting Platform
We believe that ourthe Platform, engineered and launched by our software development team at Odissea, is a highly efficient, cutting edge betting Platform technology that supports the processing of online client gaming account protocols as well as land-based betting protocols with seamless multi-channel functionality accepting all forms of payment methods (i.e., cash, e-wallet, bank card and wire transfer, etc.) and integrated with a real-time CRM and Business Intelligence program for streamlined cross-platform marketing as well as a synchronized financial accounting process.
Payment channels for both deposit and withdrawals online are as set forth below:
·Player indirect – meaning that the customer makes a deposit indirectly to their gaming account through a licensed agent (such as a cash deposit to their gaming account at a web-shop counter (e-credit to player account)).
·Player direct – meaning that the customer makes a deposit directly to their own gaming account through one or more of the following methods:
· | ||
· | ||
·Credit card;
·ATM/debit card;
·Bank wire
·Postal money order; and
·E-wallet or e-credit transfer.
Payment channels for both play of wagers and settlement of winnings at the land-based or retail agency or corner counter is as follows:
·Player direct – meaning that the customer pays for the wager in cash and accepted debit or credit cards.
· | Player direct – meaning that the customer pays for the wager in cash and accepted debit or credit cards. |
We currently employ a customizable client-focused and cost-effective “hands-on” method, rather than a “general approach” to our Platform design with the goal of empowering our player-facing customers, agents and employees to enhance the players’ experience by allowing personalized dashboard design and customer care for all customer call-ins to our service agents. We believe that this strategy has been highly effective in the Italian retail betting market and has been instrumental in increasing our revenues, net earnings and player retention.
Gaming Product Offerings
Our online sales channel (websites and web-shops) in Italy offers a full suite of gaming products that can be played in both real-money or free-play modes which include:
· | Sports Betting: Considered the largest and most well-known industry segment offering both pre-match and live in-game betting events on a wide variety of sports. | |||
· | Online Casino: includes the following: | |||
· | Traditional Online | |||
· | Traditional Online Table Games: Table games such as roulette, blackjack and | |||
· | Poker: Texas Hold’em and Omaha in both cash and tournament formats. | |||
· | Bingo and Skilled and Interactive Games: Games that are programmed with a random number generator to ensure constant fairness for all parties. These games include card games such as tresette (3 Sevens), scopa (Sweep) and briscola (Trump). | |||
· | Virtual Sports Betting: Various computer generated sport and racing events that are programmed with | |||
· | Horse Racing: Live track horse racing events. | |||
Our land-based customer locations generally offer only sports betting, and may also carry virtual sports betting and horse racing and physical slot machines.in Italy.
Current Markets, Other Services and Facilities
In addition to complementing gaming offerings originally provided by our acquired operators with our Newgioco branding, we intend to add new products and services with the assistance of gaming specialists, software providers and market research professionals, such as we have done with our acquisition of VG.professionals. We believe that we can generate additional revenues by establishing more marketing centers and web-shops.web-shops in Italy and expand our services in restaurants, bars and other similar small businesses across the U.S.
WeIn Italy, we currently service approximately 79,000 active98,000 online user accounts and estimate that our online user base will increasecontinue to over 100,000 in two yearsfurther increase based on projections of both organic growth and acquisitions of existing operators. In addition, we also service an indeterminate number of walk-in customers at our physical locations throughout the U.S. and Italy. AsSubject to licensing requirements in each state, we increase our customer base in Italy, our betting handle in our Italian operations reached approximately $454 million by the end of 2019. We also expect to begin to penetrate the U.S. market and expect to have approximately 3-5 SaaS operator customers with approximately 20,000 active end-users playing onincrease our Platformpenetration in the U.S. and other North American markets in 2020. The increase in customers is expected to result in anticipated revenue growth of between 25-35% in 2020 and expected operating margins in the 10-15% range, as a result of an improvement in operating leverage.2022.
Our client’s range in age from ages 18 through 79 and are a mix of 70% male and 30% female. In addition, we separate our revenue source by (a) sports betting, (b) casino and card game betting and (c) poker. Our in-house analysis indicates that sports betting and casino games are more popular than poker and other card games among our customer base. Furthermore, sports betting is our most profitable revenue stream yielding the highest percentage of our gross gaming revenue at 51%50.2% of revenues, which is representative of industry metrics when measured by completed sports seasons on a year over year basis. Our second largest source of revenue is currently casino followed by poker. We anticipate a shift in revenue in the future and that our largest source of our future revenue growth will be from SaaS,B2B2C, which is expected to have the highest gross margin followed by sportsbook, casino and poker.
Our internal analysis further indicates different gaming patterns among our male and female online users. Male players prefer sports-bets, while approximately 10% of them also explore casino and poker. Conversely, female players prefer casino and bingo while approximately 1% try our other games such as poker, sports-betting or lotteries.
Most of our users are currently located throughout Italy, with the highest concentrations in larger centers such as Rome and Naples.
We expect that users from any operators that we acquire will continue to utilize our services and anticipate that any operators we acquire will have existing revenues from users who frequent their establishments and venues or use their gaming websites. In addition to acquiring customers through the acquisition of operators, we intend to obtain additional licenses and pursue contracts and relationships with other operators that we believe will attract and secure new users as we increase our customer base globally.
Revenue Streams
Our revenue streams are as follows:primarily consist of transactional income and service revenue.
Transactional revenue-GamingIn the U.S. we currently generate service revenue from providing our platform and bookmaking services on a B2B basis to retail locations and casino operators in the U.S. market, through our subsidiaries, Elys Gameboard Technologies, (“Gameboard”) and US Bookmaking. We also intend to expand our presence in the U.S. market and are considering expanding our operations to provide a digital solution to customers in the U.S. on a business-to-consumer (“B2C”) basis.
In Italy, we currently generate transactional revenue through collection of bets from sports wagering and gaming from online betting and land-based betting shops located throughout Italy through our subsidiary Multigioco. We also generate service revenue from providing our Platform services to third party operators on a B2B basis through our Odissea subsidiary.
As we increase our customer base in Italy, our handle in our Italian operations reached approximately $572 million by the end of the nine months ended September 30, 2022, $626 million by the end of the nine months ended September 30, 2021, $574 million by the end of 2020 and $842 million by the end of 2021. In addition, our revenue during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 and the year ended December 31, 2021 included revenue generated by Gameboard consisting of a percentage of net gaming revenues and revenue generated by Virtual Generation consisting of royalties invoiced for the sale of virtual games through authorized agents. We generated revenue of approximately $32.2 million and $33.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, a significant portion of which was generated from revenue from operations or services provided in Italy and to a lesser extent revenue generated form our Washington D.C. operations. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, net gaming revenues represented 93.7% and 98.7%, respectively, and platform and service revenue represented 6.3% and 1.3%, respectively, of revenue. We generated revenue of approximately $45.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and approximately $37.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, respectively, substantially all of which was generated from revenue from operations or services provided in Italy. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, net gaming revenues represented 97.7% and 99.6%, respectively, and platform and service revenue represented 2.3% and 0.4%, respectively, of revenue.
Gaming revenues
Revenues from sports-betting, casino, cash and skill games, slots, bingo and horse race wagers represent the gross pay-ins (also referred to as turnover) from customers less gaming taxes and payouts to customers. Revenues are recorded when the game is closed which is representative of the point in time at which we have satisfied itsour performance obligation. In addition, we receive commissions from the sale of scratch tickets and other lottery games. Commissions are recorded when the ticket for scratch off tickets and lottery tickets are sold.
Service revenue-BettingBetting platform
Revenues from the Betting Platform include license fees, training, installation, and product support services. Revenue is recognized when transfer of control to the customer has been made and our performance obligation has been fulfilled. License fees are calculated as a percentage of each licensee’s level of activity and are contingent upon the licensee’s usage. The license fees are recognized on an accrual basis as earned.
Mobile Browser Application
Based upon customer demand for improved performance, speed, and ease-of-use for sports betting on mobile devices, we engaged a dedicated internal team of engineers to this distribution channel and have already launched and intend to continue to launch several new and innovative features.
In June 2019, we launched our second-generationOur next-generation mobile browser and application based betting platformsolution on our Elys Platform.Platform is constantly evolving and being customized for deployment in each specific country market. The new mobile platformsolution is dedicated to improving the user experience with respect to sports betting with a unique modular design that allows quick go-to-market with plug-and-play features, we have the ability to tailor the mobile app to each market, including specific look and feel features, while end users quickly get to the desired bet ticket with just a few clicks. The new modular architecture design of our second-generation mobile platform includes features inherent in the leading-edge Material Design framework developed by GoogleTM in 2014. Material Design is a visual language that synthesizes the classic principles of good design with the innovation of technology and science allowing the flexibility to quickly create new layouts for a variety of both enterprise brands and chain store locations, private brands and applications to add other features such as loyalty rewards for restaurants and cruise lines, push marketing for customer acquisition and retention and importantly, the ability to offer both online and land-based betting distribution under a variety of gaming regulations.
Our Websites
The ADM requires that all gaming websites be owned only by the license holder (Multigioco). WeIn Italy, we own our branded urlURL (uniform resource locator) www.newgioco.itnewgioco.it that we operate in accordance with the ADM GAD licensing requirements and either directly operate ouror through white label websites (main page - newgioco.it) and all white-label websiteswith online customers, or alternatively, contract the websites to third party agents or promoters operating webskin urlsURLs under the newgioco.it licensed main page.
website. Our main licensed gaming website, www.newgioco.it,newgioco.it, currently processes live and virtual sports bets and mobile sports betting transactions through our Platform, while online casino and poker are provided under a third-party service provider agreement with Microgame SpA, and lotto products are provided by Lottomatica SpA.
Our gaming websites are tailored for the Italian market and Odissea provides and operates all aspects of our online gaming websitewebsites including servers, routers, software development, (for the Newgioco branded website operations), sportsbook trading, telephone betting, licensing, website hosting, payment solutions, security, and gaming related customer support needs.
Our main and white-label websites are tailored for the Italian gaming market. We maintain a web-based platform directly under theThe branded website www.newgioco.it whichnewgioco.it serves both players directly and web-shops (i.e., internet café’s). through the online channel of our Platform. There are some variations in website style because we offer different services through distinctive marketing campaigns:
Our www.newgioco.itnewgioco.it website offers wagering in many categories of sports events. We intend to capture a larger share of the Italian sports betting market by focusing on the Serie A, Serie B, and Serie C soccer matches as well as virtual sports betting, online poker, online casino and slots, skill games, and Italian horse racing through agent-based sales campaigns.
Our direct sales campaigns aimed at end users and agent basedagent-based sales campaigns are offered through white-label pages or webskins that direct gaming transactions through our mainlicensed website www.newgioco.it.newgioco.it. We currently operate eleven such webskins as follows:
● | ● |
● | ● |
● | ● |
● clubgames.it | ● newbetlive5k.it |
● | ● guadagnomatematicobet.it |
● |
Webskins or white-label pages are dedicated to the end-user, or player, and focus on regional campaigns and gaming offerings directed at local players, such as welcome bonuses, poker rake rebate for poker players, etc. A white-label page is a complete gaming website (similar to the main website of the licenser (in our case Multigioco)) but with the interface and logo of the promoter. The promoter earns fees based on a percentage of the handle (turnover) generated through their website.
In relation to the third-party websites, the promoter (“partner”, “shop”, “agent” or “promoter”) is responsible for marketing strategies, administration and costs. The promoter may utilize special promotions, draws and incentives to drive players to their website to increase gaming handle (turnover) or visits. Generally, these regional promoters operate in areas that are remote or distant from our central operations based in Rome. Therefore, some promotions may be tied to local events in the jurisdictions surrounding the “home base” of the promoter rather than originating from our main operations. The relationship with local shops and players from the promoter region remains with the promoter since there may be regional nuances that attract their clientele to our gaming offerings. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the gaming business is owned by the underlying licensor (i.e., Multigioco) and is included in our overall financial results as gaming handle (turnover).
The promoter does not have direct access to our client gaming accounts and is therefore not legally responsible or liable for maintaining gaming account balances. Instead, the licensor is legally responsible for compliance and client gaming account control such as anti-money laundering, know-your-client and minimum age restrictions, and is also required to ensure that all payouts due to players are credited to each players’ gaming account and are available to players within seven business days of the completion of the play.
In the Italian market, our websites are only published in Italian. We may include additional languages in the future if we determine that such services are commercially viable and if we agree to pay the related development fees. We currently have plans to expand our websites to include additional languages in the future.
Although we have a diverse portfolio of product and service offerings through our websites, we intend to focus on creating in-house cost savings and synergies by undertaking strategic acquisitions of competing webskin operators and to operate them under our Newgioco branding. We intend to replicate our successful operational model developed in the regulated Italian market through the U.S. and into other international markets.
Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into, and does not form any part of, this prospectus. We have included our website address as a factual reference and do not intend it to be an active link to our website. Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act are available free of charge through the investor relations page of our internet website as soon as reasonably practicable.
Intellectual Property
We do not own any patents or have any patent applications pending in Italy or any other jurisdiction. As a result of our acquisitions of Multigioco, Rifa and the gaming assets of Newgioco Srl, we obtained the rights to the domestic distribution brand known throughout Italy as New Gioco, and in July 2015, we obtained a trademark on the brand and logo for New Gioco. Our prior subsidiary Rifa was amalgamated into Multigioco with effect on January 20, 2020.
As a result of the acquisition of Odissea, we obtained the intellectual property and technical know-how relating tobehind our Elys betting Platform.
We also have proprietary rights to a number of trademarks, service marks and trade names used in this registration statementprospectus which are important to our business including “Aleabet”“NewGioco”, “OriginalBet”, “LovingBet” and “Elys.”
Research and Development
We are continually updating the Platform and the products that we offer. We incurred expenses in the amount of $410,000approximately $0.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and $415,000a further $1.9 million in outsourced development costs which will be capitalized for the U.S. market, and $2.0 million and $1.7 million for each of the years ended December 31, 20192021 and 2018,2020, respectively for research and development. We expect that expenses we incur for development and improving our betting software to be continuous recurring research and development expenses.
Industry Overview
See the section entitled COVID-19 Update found elsewhere in this prospectus for additional information regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our industry.
Overview of the US Gaming Market
In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the national ban on sports betting (PASPA) was unconstitutional, paving the way for states to enact laws authorizing sports gambling.
The future of sports betting in the United States remains very promising for future years. Despite the sudden COVID-related suspensions of nearly all sports from March to early summer of 2020, the first two years since the repeal of PASPA still saw growth for legal sports betting, both in terms of market expansion in legal states and new legislation paving the pathway to regulated sports betting in additional jurisdictions.
As of February 2022, twenty-eight jurisdictions (including the District of Columbia) have some form of legal sports betting available. Nine others, including the states of Washington and North Carolina, have authorized legal sports betting but not yet opened their market. Larger markets such as California and Texas remain uncertain at this time.
Overview of the Italian Leisure Betting Industry
Leisure betting describes consumer entertainment products such as purchase of lottery tickets, scratch off tickets, sports betting and online casino, which customers play on a daily or regular basis.
Gambling has been culturally rooted since Roman times, and as such, Italian gaming laws are governed by a well-defined set of regulations which are considered to be some of the most advanced and robust regulations in the world. The ADM has created a barrier to entry into the gaming industry in Italy through its implementation of processes and regulations aimed at consolidating and reducing the number of licenses including, but not limited to, increased insurance requirements, increased minimum number of locations, creating favorable conditions for operators such as Newgioco.locations.
Overview of the Global Leisure Gaming Market
The easing of government regulations on sports betting is expected to be a primary growth driver for the global online gambling market. We believe that the tax revenue in addition to increase in employment opportunities derived from online gambling will motivate governments around the globe to legalize online gambling. In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the national ban on sports betting (PASPA) was unconstitutional, paving the way for states to enact laws authorizing sports gambling.
In addition to the repeal of PASPA, as of December 2019, four states, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Nevada and New Jersey, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands, allowed online gaming, while other states have indicated their support for enacting laws authorizing land-based and/or online sports betting (including Mississippi, Oregon, Montana, Indiana, Iowa, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington and Illinois).gambling
The global online gambling market is gaining popularity in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) because online sports betting sites generate substantial revenues for governments. Their significant contribution to national revenues is encouraging several countries to legalize online gambling.
The global online gambling market is characterized by the presence of several vendors competing to gain market dominance. Some small vendors are operating only in specific product verticals such as casino and lottery, while other vendors are operating in multiple areas including poker and sports betting. The growth opportunity for these vendors is increasing due to the rise in the number of online gambling providers and improved access to the internet around the world, as well as the increase in the number of players.
Certain key vendors in the global online gambling market are:
● Bet 365 (Hillside Group); | ● bet-at-home.com; |
● The Stars Group (formerly Poker Stars); | ● GVC Holdings; |
● Paddy Power Betfair; | ● Ladbrokes Coral Group: |
(now merged with Stars Group); | |
● DraftKings; | ● GAN Limited |
● 888 Holdings; | ● IGT/GTECH Lottomatica SpA, and |
● William Hill; | ● Kindred (Unibet Group). |
Other notable product vendors in the market also include Betsson, Gamenet/Intralot/Goldbet, Camelot Group, Genting UK, NetEnt, Playtech (acquired Snaitech), and Rank Group. See “Competition” below for additional information on major operators in Italy.
The sports betting segment is expected to grow with the increased popularity of global soccer sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and ongoing global growth of cricket and rugby tournaments. In addition, online betting is popular in many sports events that take place around the globe including basketball, horse and greyhound racing, ice hockey, baseball, golf, tennis and American football. Sports betting is becoming more popular due to the expansion of wagering on these sports through online channels.
Competition
Competition in the leisure gaming industry is moderate with operators competing for customers in various geographic markets. These include online operations of “land-based”“land- based” casino operators, poker rooms, sports/race books, bingo, skills games, lottery, betting exchanges as well as internet or web only based operators. The global reach of the internet together with the abundant supply of games and operators means that users can easily switch gaming platforms and operators, thereby increasing competition. Government and other regulations make it more difficult for operators to expand their footprint in certain markets leading to the consolidation of operators in such markets, while the easing of regulations in some markets has permitted more operators to expand to new marketplaces.
We compete with several private and publicly listed companies that provide land-based and/or online gaming, many of which have greater sources of financing, greater name recognition and have been engaged in the industry longer than we have. In addition, current land-based casino competitors, many of which have longer operating histories, greater brand recognition and greater financial and other resources than us, may provide Internet gaming services in the future.
We face direct competition in Italy from established online gaming sites including:
Government Regulations
We conduct business in a number of jurisdictions, of which Italy has historically contributed the most significant recurring gaming revenue, while our VGVirtual Generation subsidiary operates as a vendor or supplier to the gaming industry in such other jurisdictions. We are subject to various government regulations in the jurisdictions in which we currently operate or intend to operate in as set forth below. Current and future laws and regulations may impede the growth of regulated online and land-based gaming and wagering. Any noncompliance with the various laws and regulations that our operations are subject to may harm our business and results of operations.
Italy
In Italy, the operation of land-based and online gaming activities requires a license awarded by the ADM. The ADM is responsible for, among other things:
There are currently two main categories of licenses (land-based and online) issued or awarded by the ADM in three series:
The Monti and Bersani licenses provide distribution authorization to operate both Negozio Sportivo (agency) and Punto Sportivo (corner) land-based establishments as well as GAD online (web-based) distribution. Land-based Monti licenses and Bersani licenses are subject to and expected to be consolidated under a new decree at renewal auction which is expected to be called for renewal tender between 2020 and 2022, to match up with the limited number of Comunitaria Series GAD licenses expiring in 2021.
We currently hold, through our subsidiaries four gaming licenses upon which our business is dependent: (i) a Bersani license, (ii) a Monti license, (iii) a GAD license and (iv) an Austrian bookmaker license. Our Italian Bersani, Monti and GAD licenses are issued by the ADM, while our Austrian bookmaker license is issued by the Austrian Gambling Authority (BMF). Each Italian license is typically valid for a term of nine years while the Austrian license has a lifetime duration and, in both cases, can be terminated if we fail to comply with required regulations in each country. The renewal process for the Bersani license and Monti license, is a call to tender auction process held at the same time for all licensees approximately once every nine years with the highest bidders being awarded not only licenses but rights to operate a certain number of land-based locations. In addition, the maximum number of land-based license rights that any one operator may bid on at auction is 20% of the total market being auctioned.
Each of the Bersani and Monti land-based licenses allow us to offer specific gaming products through physical retail locations that require one license right per each physical location. The rights granted under the Bersani and Monti licenses are not fixed to any specific physical location and can be moved at the discretion of the licensee to any physical address so long as the physical address has a police issued municipal license (as prescribed by article 86, paragraph 3, of the Italian Unified Text of Public Security Law (TULPS)) to sell gaming products and so long as the physical locations meet the ADM requirements, most of which are zoning requirements that require that the location is situated at a minimum distance from schools, churches and ATM’s and banks. Multigioco currently holds one land-based Bersani license with seven corner location rights that were issued to it in 2006, expired in 2016 and is up for renewal at such time as the ADM determines to hold an auction, which is expected to take place between 2020 and 2022 and one land-based Monti license with three agency location rights that were issued to it in 2010, expired in 2016 and is up for renewal at such time as the ADM determines to hold an auction, which is expected to take place between 2020 and 2022. Although both Monti and Bersani land-based licenses expired in 2016, until the ADM holds the auction for renewal of the licenses, we have been granted a Letter of Authority which permits us to continue our operations in Italy until the next government organized license renewal is held. Our failure to successfully acquire the requisite number of location rights we desire at the renewal auction in Italy may adversely impact our business. In such event, we will most likely either acquire rights in the secondary market from someone selling rights they acquired at auction at prices which are typically higher than the auction prices of the ADM or open additional web-shops, which will be less expensive but also have lower profit margins than the land-based operations. For a description of the risks associated with the licenses and their renewal, see “Risk Factors”, including “If we should lose our online or land-based licenses, or if the licenses are not renewed for any reason, including our failure to successfully bid for location rights at the renewal auction, our business would be materially adversely impacted” and “In order to expand our land-based operations in Italy, we will be required to acquire additional location rights under our licenses or acquire operators that have location rights under their licenses and our inability to acquire such additional rights or operators or restrictions from using any license associated with such acquired operators, will result in an adverse effect on our operating results”.
Multigioco was awarded a Comunitaria Series GAD license by the ADM in 2011. The licenses provide Multigioco the right to:
An online account allows a player to fund an account through a variety of electronic payment channels such as credit cards, ATM/debit cards and bank wires. The GAD license allows us the opportunity to open an unlimited number of web-shops and to close any of the web-shops that we open in our sole discretion. We currently operate approximately 1,200 web-shops throughout Italy. Our GAD license expires on June 15, 2021 and can be renewed provided that we have not violated any regulations. Although we believe that we will be able to renew this license through a tender notice process, no assurances can be given that the renewal will be timely, if at all.
Ulisse holds one Austrian bookmaker license that it was issued in June 2018 which has no termination date but may be terminated or cancelled by the regulator if Ulisse fails to comply with any regulations. We currently operate 114 CED retail locations in Italy under our Austrian bookmaker license.
In addition, our software Platform has been certified for use in Italy in accordance with the ADM requirements by Quinel M. Limited, an international technology auditor that conducted an audit of the Platform in June 2017. The purpose of the certification is to prove the effectiveness and accuracy of communications between the supplier interface and the user/operator interface. Any updates to the software or changes to key functions that we implement, require recertification, for which there can be no assurance that our software will qualify.
United States
There is no federal United States legislation that explicitly addresses the legality of online gambling. However, there are several acts that impact online gambling.
The Federal Wire Act of 1961 makes the placing of sports bets over the telephone illegal. The Federal Wire Act of 1961 does not explicitly refer to online gambling, leaving its applicability to on online gambling open to interpretation.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (“UIGEA”) prohibits any person engaged in the business of betting or wagering from knowingly accepting payments related to unlawful bets or wagers transmitted over the Internet. While the UIGEA does not define online gambling as being illegal, the UIGEA instructs the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve to impose obligations upon financial institutions and other payment processors to establish procedures designed to block online gaming-related financial transactions. It also expressly requires Internet bets and wagers to comply with the law of the jurisdiction where the wagers are initiated and received (i.e., within state borders). As a result of the UIGEA we may not accept bets received by use of wire communications facilities, including telephones and computers, unless such bets originated and terminated in jurisdictions where such betting or wagering is legal. The Company is currently a licensed operator in New Jersey and Washington D.C and has recently obtained conditional approval to operate in Ohio. The Company has obtained GLI-33 certification to operate its Sportsbook in both New Jersey and Washington D.C.
In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (the “PASPA”) was unconstitutional as it violated the Tenth Amendment prohibition against forcing states to implement federal laws. Enacted in 1992, PASPA generally prohibited states from authorizing, licensing or sponsoring betting on competitive games in which amateur or professional athletes participate. PASPA did not make sports betting a federal crime; but rather, it allowed the attorney general for the Department of Justice, as well as professional and amateur sports organizations, to bring civil actions to enjoin violations of PASPA. The U.S. Supreme Court decision opens the door for all states to legalize and regulate sports gambling within their borders. States such as Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Montana, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, New York, New Mexico, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Michigan, Mississippi, Colorado and the District of Columbia have passed laws that were ready to be enacted once the federal ban on sports betting was lifted. Additionally,In addition, additional states including Maine, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio and Maryland are considering active bills.
Italy
Italian operation of land-based and online gaming activities requires a license awarded by the ADM. The ADM is responsible for, among other things:
There are currently two main categories of licenses (land-based and online) issued or awarded by the ADM in three series:
The Monti and Bersani licenses provide distribution authorization to operate both Negozio Sportivo (agency) and Punto Sportivo (corner) land-based establishments as well as GAD online (web-based) distribution. Land-based Monti licenses and Bersani licenses are subject to and expected to be consolidated under a new decree at renewal auction which is expected to be called for renewal tender between 2023 and 2024, to match up with the limited number of Comunitaria Series GAD licenses which expired in 2021.
We currently hold, through our Multigioco subsidiary, three gaming licenses upon which our business is dependent: (i) a Bersani license, (ii) a Monti license, and (iii) a GAD license. Our Italian Bersani, Monti and GAD licenses are issued by the ADM. Each Italian license is typically valid for a term of nine years which can be terminated if we fail to comply with required regulations. The renewal process for the Bersani license and Monti license, is a call to tender auction process held at the same time for all licensees approximately once every nine years with the highest bidders being awarded not only licenses but rights to operate a certain number of land-based locations. In addition, the maximum number of land-based license rights that any one operator may bid on at auction is 20% of the total market being auctioned.
Each of the Bersani and Monti land-based licenses allow us to offer specific gaming products through physical retail locations that require one license right per each physical location. The rights granted under the Bersani and Monti licenses are not fixed to any specific physical location and can be moved at the discretion of the licensee to any physical address so long as the physical address has a police issued municipal license (as prescribed by article 86, paragraph 3, of the Italian Unified Text of Public Security Law (TULPS)) to sell gaming products and so long as the physical locations meet the ADM requirements, most of which are zoning requirements that require that the location is situated at a minimum distance from schools, churches and ATM’s and banks. Multigioco currently holds one land-based Bersani license with seven corner location rights that was issued to it in 2006, and one land-based Monti license with three agency location rights that was issued to it in 2010. Each of the Monti and Bersani licenses held by Multigioco expired in 2016. Although both of these land-based “concession” series of licenses expired for all Italian licensed operators in 2016, the ADM has granted a letter of authority which permits us to continue our land-based operations in Italy until the government holds the next organized auction for the renewal of licenses, which is expected to take place between 2023 and 2024.
By extending the pre-2016 concession licenses, the ADM has instituted an environment that authorizes licensed Operators to continue operating until the next license renewal auction. In this regard, certain non-Italian, European-based operators have commenced civil proceedings in the European Court of Justice against the ADM’s efforts to prohibit access to the regulated Italian betting market by foreign operators. The outcome of these proceedings and the effect on our business in the Italian market are presently unknown.
Multigioco was awarded a Comunitaria Series GAD license by the ADM in 2011. The licenses provide Multigioco the right to:
An online account allows a player to fund an account through a variety of electronic payment channels such as credit cards, ATM/debit cards and bank wires. The GAD license allows us the opportunity to open an unlimited number of web-shops and to close any of the web-shops that we open in our sole discretion. We currently operate approximately 1,300 web-shops throughout Italy. Our GAD license expired on June 15, 2021 and can be renewed provided that we have not violated any regulations. Although we believe that we will be able to renew this license through a tender notice process, no assurances can be given that the renewal will be timely, if at all.
Our Italian licenses could also be terminated if we fail to comply with required regulations in Italy.
In addition, our software Platform has been certified for use in Italy in accordance with the ADM requirements by Quinel M. Limited, an international technology auditor that conducted an audit of the Platform in June 2017. The purpose of the certification is to prove the effectiveness and accuracy of communications between the supplier interface and the user/operator interface. Any updates to the software or changes to key functions that we implement, require recertification, for which there can be no assurance that our software will qualify.
As a result of ongoing proceedings in the European Court of Justice regarding the application of Italian regulation for wagering under the Intra-EU model since the past renewal date of June 30, 2016 the ADM has imposed a moratorium on the issuance of new sports betting licenses and standardization of regulations. In the interim, the ADM is delaying the Italian license renewal process and has temporarily instituted operating authorizations for pre-2016 concessions that allow operators, including Multigioco, to continue to operate until the next license renewal is announced and concluded. The outcome and duration of this process is presently unknown.
Ulisse held one Austrian bookmaker license that was issued in June 2018 which had no termination date but could be terminated or cancelled by the regulator if Ulisse had failed to comply with any regulations. In accordance with established inter-European business principles that permit the formation and operation of business within EU state members, we previously operated gaming websites and 110 CTD retail locations in Italy under our Austrian bookmaker license. All 110 CTD retails locations were closed for the greater part of 2020 due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Management decided during the fourth quarter of 2021 to focus all of its attention and technical resources on developing the significant opportunities and new business leads in the U.S. market. After careful consideration of the potential of developing gaming operations in the Austrian and other European markets, management decided to let the Austrian license lapse and acquired the Ulisse customer relationships through Multigioco, operating under the Multigioco licenses and platform.
United Kingdom and European Union
The United Kingdom and certain European UnionEU countries, such as Germany, France, Spain and Greece, have enacted online gaming laws and regulations. To the extent that we operate in any of these jurisdictions, our operations will need to be in compliance with the laws and regulations of such jurisdiction.
Additional Government Regulations
We are subject to general business regulations and laws which cover among others, taxation, virtual currencies, identity theft, account management guidelines, privacy, disclosure rules, security and marketing.
EmployeesFor a description of the risks associated with the licenses and their renewal see the Risk Factors. Our failure to successfully acquire the requisite number of location rights we desire at the renewal auction in Italy may adversely impact our business. In such event, we will most likely either acquire rights in the secondary market from someone selling rights they acquired at auction at prices which are typically higher than the auction prices of the ADM or open additional web-shops, which will be less expensive but also have lower profit margins than the land-based operations.
Human Capital Resources
As a multinational company our business success is dependent upon our global workforce which spans five countries. As of July 1, 2020,September 30, 2022, we employed one1 person directly located in Canada, and engaged three persons as independent contractors,11 people in the United States and 1 part time employee, while our subsidiaries Multigioco employed 3358 full-time employees and approximately 12 independent contractors and sales agents,1 part time employee located in Italy, Odissea employed 712 full-time employees Ulisse employed 10 full-time employees, Elys Technology Group employed 6 employeeslocated in Austria and 27 technology sub-contractors located in Italy, and Virtual Generation employed 17 full time employee.employees between Italy, Malta and its international offices. Approximately 33% of our employees are part of our technology team, approximately 11% are part of our risk management team and approximately 56% are involved in sales, finance, general management and other administrative functions. None of our employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and we consider our relations with our employees to be very good. Although, management continually seeks to add additional talent to its work force, management believes that it has sufficient human capital to operate its business successfully. Our recruitment programs are regionally focused, and hiring is done at a local level to ensure compliance with applicable regulations.
We also offer our employees a compensation packages with premier health and welfare programs for employees and family members. In addition, every employee is eligible for equity awards to share in the Company’s financial success. Our paid time off programs enable our workforce to enjoy personal time away from their job responsibilities.
In early March 2020, we implemented a safe work plan to protect the health of our employees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including closing our administrative offices. We had encouraged most of our employees to work from home, and we implemented health and safety protocols in our administrative offices to ensure that we are ready for the safe return of our employees to our offices, in order to ensure the success of our employees during the shift to remote work, we developed training resources for managers to ensure they had the proper skills to lead remote teams and provided training to employees on how to be effective while working remotely.
Most of our employees have returned to our workplaces during the second and third quarter of 2021 as local government restrictions were eased. We allow employees to work from home where circumstances warrant it and anticipate that we will continue this policy in the foreseeable future.
COVID-19 Update
As a result of the global outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, on March 8, 2020 the Italian government issued a decree which imposed certain restrictions on public gatherings and travel, and closures of physical venues that included betting shops, arcades and bingo halls across Italy. Accordingly, we had temporarily closed all betting shop locations throughout Italy as a result of the decree until May 4, 2020. Subsequently, on March 10, 2020 the Italian government imposed further restrictions on travel throughout Italy as well as transborder crossings and had either postponed or cancelled most professional sports events which had an effect on the Company’s overall sports betting handle and revenues and negatively impacted the Company’s operating results.
On June 19, 2020 all land-based betting shops, including corner locations such as coffee shops throughout Italy temporarily reopened until November 2020 when the Italian government imposed new lockdowns that were lifted on June 14, 2021. The closing of physical betting shop locations did not affect our online and mobile business operations which has mitigated some of the impact. Due to the high percentage of vaccinations administered in Italy, we do not anticipate further severely restrictive lockdowns.
During Q2 2021, management decided to close our Ulisse operations in Italy due to the uncertainty at that time of the duration and scope of the COVID-19 outbreak, while focusing investments on growing our U.S. market and the more familiar Multigioco brand, the result of which management believes has reduced the complexity and improved the efficiency of our gaming operations in Italy.
Corporate Information
Newgioco Group, Inc.Elys Game Technology, Corp. is a Delaware corporation incorporated on August 26, 1998.
Our principal headquarters are located On November 2, 2020, we changed our name from Newgioco Group, Inc. to Elys Game Technology, Corp. We currently maintain an executive suite situated at 130 Adelaide Street, West, Suite 701, Toronto, Ontario M5H 2K4,107 East Warm Springs Road, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89119, where we also have the offices of USB, our subsidiary that we acquired in July 2021, and the offices of our wholly-owned subsidiaries are located in Canada, Italy, Malta, Colombia and Austria. Our subsidiaries include: Multigioco Srl (acquired on August 15, 2014), as well as Ulisse GmbH and Odissea Betriebsinformatik Beratung GmbH (both acquired on July 1, 2016), Virtual Generation Limited (acquired on January 30, 2019), Newgioco Group, Inc. (Canada) formed on January 17, 2017, Elys Technology Group Limited, a company organized under the laws of Republic of Malta on April 4, 2019, Newgioco Colombia SAS, a company organized under the laws of Colombia formed on November 26, 2019, and on May 28, 2020 we formed Elys Gameboard Technologies, LLC in State of Delaware. Our telephone number is +39-391-306-4134.1-628-258-5148. Our corporate website address is www.newgiocogroup.com.www.elysgame.com. The information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this registration statement,prospectus, and you should not consider any information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website as part of this registration statementprospectus or in deciding whether to purchase or sell our securities.
Our current subsidiaries include: Multigioco Srl (acquired on August 15, 2014), Ulisse GmbH and Odissea Betriebsinformatik Beratung GmbH (both acquired on July 1, 2016), Virtual Generation (acquired on January 30, 2019), Newgioco Group, Inc. (Canada) formed on January 17, 2017 for potential future operations in Canada, Elys Technology Group Limited, a company organized under the laws of Republic of Malta on April 4, 2019 for future business opportunities in Europe, Newgioco Colombia SAS, a company organized under the laws of Colombia on November 26, 2019 to develop our operations through South and Central America, Gameboard, a limited liability company organized in the State of Delaware, on May 28, 2020 to develop our U.S. business operations and USB, a company organized under the laws of Nevada, acquired on July 15, 2021. Our prior subsidiaries included Rifa Srl from January 1, 2015 that was amalgamated into Multigioco with effect on January 20, 2020 and Naos Holding Limited a non-operating holding company from January 30, 2019 that was discontinued with effect on December 31, 2019.
We have proprietary rights to a number of trademarks, service marks and trade names used in this registration statementprospectus which are important to our business including “New Gioco”, “Aleabet”, “OriginalBet”, “LovingBet” and “Elys.”“Elys”. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks and trade names in this registration statementprospectus are referred to without the ® and TM symbols, but such references should not be construed as any indicator that their respective owners will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, their rights thereto. All other trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this registration statementprospectus are the property of their respective owners.
Description of PropertyProperties
The Company has two mailing addresses:maintains an executive suite located at 107 East Warms Springs Road, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89119, and a Canadian office at 130 Adelaide St. West, Suite 701, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2K4, Canada (its main office),Canada. The Company pays $5,000 per month for the offices situated in Las Vegas, Nevada and 671 Westburne Dr., Concord, Ontario, L4K 4Z1, Canada and also handles corporate matters at Suite 280, 1900 Glades Rd, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, USA. Thesepays no rent for the offices are provided to the Company on a rent-free basis by unaffiliated third parties.situated in Toronto, Ontario.
Our subsidiary Multigioco rentsrented office space on a year-by-year basis located at Via J.F. Kennedy, 6 Grottaferrata, Roma,Macchia dello Sterparo 31, Frascati, Rome, for approximately $2,200$2,722 per month. With effect from February 15, 2022, the lease was terminated and a new lease was entered into at Villa Cavalletti, Via Maggio 73, Grottaferrata, Rome at a monthly rental of approximately $11,200 per month. The office is used primarily for administrative functions. There are no gaming operations carried out at this office.
Our subsidiaries Ulisse and Odissea rent office space on a year-by-year basis at Salurnerstrasse 12 – 6020, Innsbruck, Austria and pay approximately $1,300$1,430 and approximately $1,480$1,700 per month, respectively. The offices are used primarily for administrative functions. There are no gaming operations carried out at this office.
Our subsidiary Virtual Generation shares an office space for 1 employee with 6 employees of Elys Technology Group forour customer service provider in Malta situated at Level 2, Farrugia Building, 9, St., Michael Street, San Gwann, Malta. Ulisse pays the rent
We believe that our current office spaces are adequate and suitable for thisour anticipated needs, and those of our subsidiaries, and that suitable additional space on behalf of Virtual Generation and Elys Technology Group.will be available at commercially reasonable prices as needed.
Legal Proceedings
On August 1, 2019, an action was filed against the Company by Elizabeth J. MacLean, the Company’s former CFO, in the Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County (the “Arizona Court”), Case No. C2019-008383. The action challenged the Company’s termination of Ms. MacLean’s employment in May 2019 as unlawful under her employment agreement, dated September 19, 2018, with the Company and seeks damages in the amount of $1,050,204. On October 10, 2019, a default judgment was filed in the Arizona Court. On November 4, 2019, the Company filed a motion to set aside the default judgment based on, among other things, the failure by plaintiff’s counsel to follow the notice provisions of Arizona law which led to the default judgment. On January 29, 2020, the Arizona Court ruled in favor of the Company to set aside the default judgement. On March 16, 2021, the Arizona Court of Appeals denied Ms. MacLean’s appeal of the trial court’s decision to set aside a default judgement previously obtained by Ms. MacLean and has awarded costs to the Company, which Ms. MacLean is contesting. The Company believes this action to be wholly without merit and that it has various meritorious defenses to this action, including that Ms. MacLean was terminated during the stated probationary period set forth in her employment agreement with the Company and that the Company had good cause to affect any such termination, whether within or without the probationary period. On August 12, 2022, the Company and Ms. McLean entered into a Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release pursuant to which the Company paid the amount provided for of $51,569, as such, the matter is definitively concluded.
On July 20, 2022, the Company received notice that on July 17, 2022, an action was commenced in the Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County, Nevada, Case No. A-22-855524-B, by Victor J. Salerno, Robert Kocienski and Robert Walker (“Plaintiffs”), against the Company and Bookmakers Company US LLC d/b/a U.S. Bookmaking (“USB,” and together with the Company collectively “Defendants”). Plaintiffs’ claims against the Company relate to the Membership Interest Purchase Agreement, dated July 5, 2021, pursuant to which Plaintiffs sold their membership interests in USB to the Company. Plaintiffs’ claims for relief asserted in the complaint include, without limitation, breach of contract, breach of implied covenants, intentional interference with contract and negligent misrepresentation. Plaintiffs seek a judgment for damages against the Company, including punitive damages, as well as declaratory relief against both the Company and USB. The Company believes the claims made by Plaintiff’s against the Defendants were completely without merit. On September 29, 2022, the Court denied in all respects the Plaintiffs’ emergency motion for a preliminary injunction, and on September 30, 2022, the Action was dismissed by the Plaintiffs.
On November 14, 2022, the Company held a mediation with Messrs. Salerno, Kocienski and Walker. There was no agreed upon outcome at the mediation. On November 17, 2022, the Company (“Plaintiff”) filed suit in the District Court, Clark County, Nevada, Case No. A-22-861452-B against Victor J. Salerno and Robert Kocienski, as “Sellers Representatives” and Robert Walker, John F. Kocienski, Farrell Drozd, William M. Bigelow, Edwin Spaunhurst, Louis Anthony Defilippis and Pennie Bigelow, as “Sellers” together with the Sellers Representatives (collectively the “the Defendants”), for Breach of Contract, Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Fraudulent Misrepresentation and Inducement, Business Disparagement, Conversion, and Unjust Enrichment. The Company seeks judgment against Defendants for: damages caused by Defendants in an amount in excess of $15,000.00 for each claim for relief; exemplary and punitive damages in an amount no less than three times the amount awarded to Plaintiff for compensatory damages; pre-judgment and post-judgment interest as provided by law; an award of attorney’s fees and costs as special damages; an award of Plaintiff’s costs, disbursements, and attorney’s fees incurred in the action; and for such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper.
Available Investor Information
We file electronically with the SEC our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) of 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We make available through our website, free of charge, copies of these reports as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish them to the SEC. Our website is located at www.elysgame.com. You can also request copies of such documents by contacting us at 1-628-258-5148 or sending an email to investor@elysgame.com. The information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus, and you should not consider any information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website as part of this prospectus or in deciding whether to purchase or sell our securities. The SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The address of that website is www.sec.gov.
MANAGEMENT AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
All directors of our company hold office until the next annual meeting of the stockholders or until their successors have been elected and qualified or they have resigned. Our 2022 annual meeting of stockholders is scheduled to be held on December 30, 2022 and each of the current directors are nominees for director at the 2022 annual meeting of stockholders. The officers of our company are appointed by our Board of Directors and hold office until their death, resignation or removal from office.
Our current directors and executive officers, their ages and their positions, as of the date of this registration statement,prospectus, as follows:
Name | Age | Position |
Michele Ciavarella | Executive Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer | |
Director | ||
Carlo Reali | 54 | Interim Chief Financial Officer |
Executive Officer and Director Biographies
Michele Ciavarella – Executive Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
Michele Ciavarella has served as our Chief Executive OfficerChairman of the Board since June 2011December 30, 2021 and has served as our Chairman of the Board of Directors since June 26, 2019. From June 2011 until December 30, 2020, he also served as our Chief Executive Officer. On July 15, 2021, he was appointed as the interim Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company. In addition, Mr. Ciavarella has served our company in various roles and executive capacities since 2004 including President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Operations. From 2004 to 2011, Mr. Ciavarella was engaged in senior executive and director roles for a variety of private and publicly listed companies including Kerr Mines Ltd. (formerly known as Armistice Resources Corp.), Firestar Capital Management Corporation, Mitron Sports Enterprises, Process Grind Rubber and Dagmar Insurance Services. He also served as the Business Development Officer for Forte Fixtures and Millwork, Inc., a family owned business in the commercial retail fixture manufacturing industry from January 2007 until October 2013. From 1990 until 2004, Mr. Ciavarella served as a senior executive, financial planner, life insurance underwriter and financial advisor for Manulife Financial Corporation and Sun Life Financial.Financial, Inc. Mr. Ciavarella received his Bachelor of Science degree from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. Mr. Ciavarella has been focused on incubating and executing on business building strategies for the priorlast 25 years.
We believe that Mr. Ciavarella is qualified to serve as a member of our Board because of Directors due to his practical experience in a broad range of competencies including executive, financial and operational application of lean business process management, as well as extensive c-level and board level experience, and his leadership skills and diversified industry experience combined with a track record of growing businesses, both organically and through acquisitions and joint ventures.
Matteo Monteverdi-PresidentPaul Sallwasser – Director
Paul Sallwasser was appointed to serve on our Board on June 13, 2019. Mr. Monteverdi has extensive industry leadership experience, havingSallwasser is a certified public accountant, joined the audit staff of Ernst & Young LLP in 1976 and remained with Ernst & Young LLP for 38 years. Mr. Sallwasser served a broad range of clients primarily in the healthcare and biotechnology industries of which a significant number were SEC registrants. He became a partner of Ernst & Young in 1988 and from 2011 until he retired from Ernst & Young LLP in 2014, Mr. Sallwasser served in the national office as U.S. President of Sportradar from April 2018 to February 2020, and as IGT Senior Vice President of Global Digital Products from 2015 to 2018. Previously from 2012 to 2015 he was GTECH Senior Vice President of iGaming. He also served as President of Lottomatica Betting and Interactive from 2010 to 2012. Mr. Monteverdi holds an MBA from SDA Bocconi in Milan, Italy, a Law Degree from Università Degli Studi in Milan, Italy and a specialization in Marketing from Stanford Graduate Business School. Mr. Monteverdi has previously served as an independent strategic advisor to the Company since March 2020 and has developed a firm understandingmember of the unique technological capabilitiesQuality and Regulatory Matters Group working with regulators and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Mr. Sallwasser currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of a private equity fund that is focused on investing in healthcare companies in the Company’s Elys betting platform and has established a strong rapport with the Company’s current management team.
Alessandro Marcelli – Vice President Operations
Alessandro Marcelli served as our President from 2014 to 2017 and since 2014 to presentSouth Florida area. Mr. Sallwasser has also served as our Vice President Operations. Mr. Marcelli has more than 20 yearsmember of professional experience in the technology industry having a broad rangeBoard of applicable cross-border experience including a key role as Project ManagerDirectors of Software with NATOYoungevity International, Inc. (“Youngevity”) since June 5, 2017. Youngevity (Nasdaq Capital Market: YGYI) was founded in 1996 working within the Turkish Army. He was employed with Vodafone Group plc from 1997and develops and distributes health and nutrition related products through 2010its global independent direct selling network, also known as manager of the operationalmulti-level marketing, and maintenance center for central and south Italy operations.
Mr. Marcelli has extensive experience in communications, team building as well as management skills in fast changing environments. Since 2007, Mr. Marcelli has been the Managing Director of Multigioco and has been instrumental in its growth, expanding the Newgioco/Multigioco brandsells coffee products to approximately $450 million in gross annual gaming turnover during his tenure.
Luca Pasquini – Vice President Technology and Director
Luca Pasquini has served as a member of our Board and our Vice President Technology since August 2016. Mr. Pasquini brings 30 years of information technology experience and has served as team leader, service manager and project manager in various software and technology development projects. Since 2013, Mr. Pasquini has served as co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Odissea Betriebsinformatik Beratung GmbH where he was instrumental in the engineering and creation of a powerful, state-of-the art sports betting and gaming technology system. From 2011 to 2013, Mr. Pasquini served as IT Manager of GoldBet sportwetten GmbH where he provided executive oversight of technology adaptation and software development. Mr. Pasquini has also been instrumental in assembling a solid team of gaming specialist software engineers that have developed our innovative bookmaker platform and a full suite of gaming products. Mr. Pasquini is a graduate of technical engineering studies at Instituto Superiore Valdarno in San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy.commercial customers.
We believe that Mr. PasquiniSallwasser is qualified to serve as a member of our Board becausedue to his vast audit and accounting experience, which includes his status as an “audit committee financial expert,” as defined by the rules of the SEC.
Steven A. Shallcross – Director
Steven A. Shallcross was appointed to serve on our Board of Directors on June 13, 2019. Mr. Shallcross has also served as a member of the board of directors of Synthetic Biologics, Inc. (NYSE American: SYN) since December 6, 2018 and currently serves as Synthetic Biologics’ Chief Executive Officer, a position he was appointed to on December 6, 2018, and as Synthetic Biologics’ Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Shallcross was appointed as Synthetic Biologics’ Interim Chief Executive Officer on December 5, 2017 and has served as its Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary since joining Synthetic Biologics in June 2015. Synthetic Biologics is a clinical-stage company focused on developing therapeutics designed to preserve the microbiome to protect and restore the health of patients.
From May 2013 through May 2015, Mr. Shallcross served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Nuo Therapeutics, Inc. (formerly Cytomedix, Inc.). In January 2016, Nuo Therapeutics, Inc. filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and on April 25, 2016, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order granting approval of Nuo’s plan of reorganization. From July 2012 to May 2013, Mr. Shallcross held the offices of Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Empire Petroleum Partners, LLC, a motor fuel distribution company. From July 2011 to March 2012, Mr. Shallcross was Acting Chief Financial Officer of Senseonics Inc, a privately-held medical device company located in Germantown, MD. From January 2009 to March 2011, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Innocoll AG (formerly privately held Innocoll Holdings, Inc.), a global, commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development and commercialization of collagen-based products. He also served as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for four years, leading the company through its successful IPO and follow-on offering and previously served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Middlebrook Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly Advancis Pharmaceutical Corporation). In addition, Mr. Shallcross also served as the Chief Financial Officer of Bering Truck Corporation. From April 2021 until June 2022, Mr. Shallcross served on the board of directors of TwinVee Powercats, Co., a designer, manufacturer and marketer of recreational and commercial power catamaran boats. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Illinois.
We believe that Mr. Shallcross is qualified to serve as a member of our Board due to his practicalsignificant strategic, operational, business and financial experience, an established track record of leading the financial development and strategy for several publicly traded companies and his familiarity with financial matters facing public reporting companies. Mr. Shallcross has a broad understanding of the financial markets, financial statements as well as generally accepted accounting principles.
Andrea Mandel-Mantello
Mr. Mandel-Mantello was appointed to serve on our Board on June 29, 2021. Mr. Mandel-Mantello serves on the audit committee. Mr. Mandel-Mantello has approximately 40 years of experience in international corporate finance, M&A and equity banking matters. Since July 1997, he has served as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Advicorp PLC, a London-based investment banking firm. He also has served since February 2012, as a member of the board of directors of GABF Ltd. (The Great Bagel Factory), which was acquired by Chef Express UK Ltd (Cremonini Group), and from July 2011 as a member of the board of directors and President of Cesare Ragazzi Laboratories (AdviHair S.r.l.), a Bologna, Italy based leading hair treatment and hair restoration company acquired out of bankruptcy. From February 1988 until January 1997 Mr. Mandel-Mantello was an Executive Director – Corporate Finance based in London at Swiss Bank Corporation Group (now known as UBS Group AG).
We believe that Mr. Mandel-Mantello is qualified to serve as a member of our Board due to his significant strategic, operational, business and financial experience. Mr. Mandel-Mantello has a broad rangeunderstanding of competencies including his information technology experience.the financial markets, financial statements as well as generally accepted accounting principles.
Victor Salerno
Mr. Salerno was appointed to serve on our board on September 13, 2021. Mr. Salerno is the President and founder of the Company’s newly acquired subsidiary, US Bookmaking. Mr. Salerno founded US Bookmaking, based in Las Vegas Nevada, in 2016 and has built US Bookmaking into one of the leading sports betting companies to serve native American casinos. Mr. Salerno has enjoyed over forty years in the sports betting business where he served as Chairman of American Wagering, Inc (AWI). AWI operated over 130 Leroy’s Sports Books (Leroy’s) in Nevada. At AWI, Mr. Salerno launched the first computerized sports book platform, Computerized Bookmaking Services (CBS), which is still in use today. With the development of CBS, he was able to create the first bookmaking network hub which managed the betting lines and risk for the Leroy’s chain. He was the developer and first operator in Nevada to introduce self-service sports wagering kiosks, which were launched in 2002. His most significant accomplishment was the 2010 launch of mobile sports betting in the US with the Leroy’s App. Mr. Salerno has served as the President of the Nevada Association of Race and Sports Operators and as a member of the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association’s leadership committee. In 2015, he was inducted into the American Gaming Association’s “Gaming Hall of Fame.”
Mr. Salerno has significant industry experience in the US Gaming markets. Pursuant to the Membership Purchase Agreement, dated July 5, 2021, entered into with Bookmakers Company US LLC and the members of Bookmakers Company US LLC to acquire U.S. Bookmaking, we were contractually obligated to nominate Victor J. Salerno for re-election as a director of Elys at the 2022 Annual Meeting.
Carlo Reali – Interim Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Reali was appointed to serve as our Interim Chief Financial Officer on January 5, 2022. Mr. Reali joined the Company in January 2017 as finance manager with Multigioco S.r.l., a wholly owned subsidiary, and on October 15, 2020, was appointed and has served as the Company’s Group Financial Controller based in the Company’s administrative office in Grottaferrata, Italy. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Reali was the Chairman and Executive Financial Manager of S.I.S. S.r.l. from January 2001 until its acquisition in July 2015 by SNAI S.p.A., a leader in the Italian gaming market, and remained with SNAI as Executive Finance Manager until August 2016. Mr. Reali holds a Science Degree from Instituto S. Maria in Rome, Italy and a Degree in Economics and Commerce from University of La Sapienza in Rome, Italy.
Mark Korb – Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings
On July 20, 2022, we received notice that on July 17, 2022, an action (the “Action”) was commenced in the Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County, Nevada, Case No. A-22-855524-B, by Victor J. Salerno, Robert Kocienski and Robert Walker (“Plaintiffs”), against us and Bookmakers Company US LLC d/b/a U.S. Bookmaking (“USB,” and together with the Company collectively “Defendants”). Plaintiffs’ claims against us relate to the Membership Interest Purchase Agreement, dated July 5, 2021, pursuant to which Plaintiffs sold their membership interests in USB to us. Plaintiffs’ claims for relief asserted in the Action include, without limitation, breach of contract, breach of implied covenants, intentional interference with contract and negligent misrepresentation. Plaintiffs sought a judgment for damages against us, including punitive damages, as well as declaratory relief against both USB and us. We believe the Action was completely without merit. On September 29, 2022, the Court denied in all respects the Plaintiffs’ emergency motion for a preliminary injunction, and on September 30, 2022, the Action was dismissed by the Plaintiffs.
Except as disclosed herein, no bankruptcy petition has been filed by or against any business of which any director or executive officer was a general partner or executive officer either at the time of the bankruptcy or within two years prior to that time.
No current director has been convicted in a criminal proceeding and is not subject to a pending criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations and other minor offences).
No current director has been subject to any order, judgment, or decree, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any court of competent jurisdiction, permanently or temporarily enjoining, barring, suspending or otherwise limiting his involvement in any type of business, securities or banking activities, with the exception of the specific temporary restrictions that were limited to Canada and were mutually agreed to between Mr. Ciavarella and the Ontario Securities Commission (“OSC”). As previously disclosed with the SEC, in May 2011, Mr. Ciavarella entered into a Settlement Agreement with the OSC relating to unauthorized trading that occurred in his accounts in November of 2004, pursuant to which the OSC acknowledged that Mr. Ciavarella was not involved in, and Mr. Ciavarella acknowledged a failure to monitor the trading in his accounts, and Mr. Ciavarella agreed to not to trade in securities or act as an officer or director of a Canadian public corporation for a period of five years that expired on May 17, 2016. In addition, pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, Mr. Ciavarella made a payment of CDN $100,000 to the OSC for the purpose of educating investors or promoting or otherwise enhancing knowledge and information of persons regarding the operation of the securities and financial markets.
Except as set forth above, no director has been found by a court of competent jurisdiction (in a civil action), the SEC or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to have violated a federal or state securities or commodities law, that has not been reversed, suspended, or vacated.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
We have adopted a code of conduct that applies to all officers, directors and employees, including those officers responsible for financial reporting. The full text of the code of conduct is posted on our website at www.elysgame.com. If we make any substantive amendments to the code of conduct or grant any waiver from a provision of the code of conduct to any executive officer or director, we will promptly disclose the nature of the amendment or waiver on our website.
Director Independence
Our Board of Directors currently consists of five members. We have adopted the definition of “independent director” as set forth in Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq Stock Market. Accordingly, our Board of Directors considers a director to be independent when the director is not one of our subsidiaries’ officers or employees or director of our subsidiaries, does not have any relationship which would, or could reasonably appear to, materially interfere with the independent judgment of such director, and the director otherwise meets the independence requirements under the listing standards of the Nasdaq Stock Market and the rules and regulations of the SEC. In applying this definition, the Board has determined that our three non-employee directors, Messrs. Sallwasser, Shallcross and Mandel-Mantello, each meet the independence standards established by the Nasdaq Stock Market and the applicable independence rules and regulations of the SEC, including the rules relating to the independence of the members of our audit committee and compensation committee.
Board Committees
Our Board of Directors designated the following three standing committees of the Board: the audit committee, the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee. Charters for each of the three committees is available on our website at https://ir.elysgame.com/corporate-governance. From time to time, the Board of Directors may also establish ad hoc committees to address particular matters.
Board Members and Committee Composition
Board Members | Audit Committee | Compensation Committee | Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee |
Michele Ciavarella | — | — | — |
Andrea Mandel-Mantello | Member | — | — |
Victor J. Salerno | — | — | — |
Paul Sallwasser | Chairman | Member | Member |
Steven A. Shallcross | Member | Chairman | Member |
Audit Committee
Our audit committee is comprised of Messrs. Sallwasser, Shallcross and Mandel-Mantello. Mr. Sallwasser is Chairman of the audit committee. The primary purpose of the audit committee is to oversee the quality and integrity of our accounting and financial reporting processes and the audit of our financial statements. The audit committee is responsible for selecting, compensating, overseeing and terminating our independent registered public accounting firm. Specifically, the audit committee’s duties are to recommend to our Board the engagement of an independent registered public accounting firm to audit our financial statements and to review our accounting and auditing principles. The audit committee will review the scope, timing and fees for the annual audit and the results of audit examinations performed by the external auditors and independent registered public accounting firm, including their recommendations to improve the system of accounting and internal controls. The audit committee will at all times be composed exclusively of directors who are, in the opinion of our Board, free from any relationship which would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment as a committee member and who possess an understanding of financial statements and generally accepted accounting principles. The Board has determined that each member of the audit committee is “independent,” as that term is defined by the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market. The Board believes that each of Messrs. Sallwasser, Shallcross and Mandel-Mantello qualify as an “audit committee financial expert” (as defined in Item 407 of Regulation S-K).
Compensation Committee
Our compensation committee is comprised of Messrs. Sallwasser and Shallcross. Mr. Shallcross is Chairman of the compensation committee. The compensation committee is responsible for, among other things, reviewing and recommending to our Board the annual salary, bonus, stock compensation and other benefits of our executive officers, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer; reviewing and providing recommendations regarding compensation and bonus levels of other members of senior management; reviewing and making recommendations to our Board on all new executive compensation programs; reviewing the compensation of our Board; and administering our equity incentive plans. The compensation committee may delegate any or all of its duties or responsibilities to a subcommittee of the compensation committee, to the extent consistent with the Company’s organizational documents and all applicable laws, regulations and rules of markets in which our securities trade, as applicable. The Board has determined that each member of the compensation committee is “independent,” as that term is defined by the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Nominating and Governance Committee
Our nominating and governance committee is comprised of Messrs. Sallwasser and Shallcross. Mr. Sallwasser is Chairman of the nominating and governance committee. The nominating and governance committee is responsible for, among other things, annually assessing the composition, skills, size and tenure of the Board in advance of annual meetings and whenever individual directors indicate that their status may change; annually considering new members for nomination to the Board ; causing the Board to annually review the independence of directors; and developing and monitoring our general approach to corporate governance issues as they may arise. The Board has determined that each member of the nominating and governance committee is “independent,” as that term is defined by the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Executive Committee
On August 28 2022, we established an executive committee comprised of Messrs. Ciavarella, Sallwasser, Shallcross and Mandel-Mantello to take all action that the Board of Directors may take in light of Mr. Salerno’s conflict of interest resulting from the Action.
Family Relationships
There are no family relationships between our officers and directors.
Stockholder Communications with Directors
The Board has established a process to receive communications from stockholders. Stockholders may contact any member or all members of the Board, any Board committee, or any chair of any such committee by mail. To communicate with the Board of Directors, any individual director or any group or committee of directors, correspondence should be addressed to the Board of Directors or any such individual director or group or committee of directors by either name or title. All such correspondence should be sent “c/o Corporate Secretary” at Elys Game Technology, Corp., Suite 701, 130 Adelaide St. W. Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 2K4.
All communications received as set forth in the preceding paragraph will be opened by the office of our Secretary and the Corporate Secretary’s office will make sufficient copies of the contents to send to each director who is a member of the group or committee to which the envelope or e-mail is addressed. The Board of Directors has instructed the Corporate Secretary to forward stockholder correspondence only to the intended recipients, and has also instructed the Corporate Secretary to review all stockholder correspondence and, in the Corporate Secretary’s discretion, refrain from forwarding any items deemed to be of a commercial or frivolous nature or otherwise inappropriate for the Board of Directors’ consideration. Any such items may be forwarded elsewhere in Elys for review and possible response.
Board Leadership Structure
Mr. Ciavarella serves as the Interim Chief Executive Officer, President and Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Although we do not have a formal policy on whether the same person should (or should not) serve as both the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, due to the size of our Company, we believe that the current structure is appropriate. In serving as Executive Chairman of the Board, Mr. Ciavarella serves as a significant resource for other members of management and the Board of Directors.
We believe that our company and its stockholders are best served by having Mr. Ciavarella, our Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Ciavarella’s role as Executive Chairman promotes unified leadership and direction for the Board of Directors and executive management, and it allows for a single, clear focus for the chain of command to execute our strategic initiatives and business plans.
Our current structure is operating effectively and fosters productive, timely and efficient communication among the independent directors and management. We do have active participation in our committees by our independent directors. Each committee performs an active role in overseeing our management and there are complete and open lines of communication with the management and independent directors.
Risk Oversight
The Board has an active role, as a whole and also at the committee level, in overseeing management of our company’s risks. The Board regularly reviews information regarding our company’s strategy, finances and operations, as well as the risks associated with each. The Audit Committee is responsible for oversight of Company risks relating to accounting matters, financial reporting, internal controls and legal and regulatory compliance. The Audit Committee undertakes, at least annually, a review to evaluate these risks. The members then meet separately with management responsible for such area, including our Interim Chief Financial Officer, and report to the Audit Committee on any matters identified during such discussions with management. In addition, the Compensation Committee considers risks related to the attraction and retention of talent as well as risks relating to the design of compensation programs and arrangements. In addition, the Nominating and Governance Committee manages risks associated with the independence of the Board. While each committee is responsible for evaluating certain risks and overseeing the management of such risks, the entire Board is regularly informed through committee reports about such risks. The full Board considers strategic risks and opportunities and regularly receives detailed reports from the committees regarding risk oversight in their respective areas of responsibility.
Review and Approval of Transactions with Related Persons
The Board of Directors has adopted policies and procedures for review, approval and monitoring of transactions involving Elys and “related persons” (directors and executive officers or their immediate family members, or stockholders owning 5% or greater of the Company’s outstanding stock). The policy covers any related person transaction that meets the minimum threshold for disclosure in the proxy statement under the relevant rules of the SEC. Pursuant to our charter, our Audit Committee reviews on an on-going basis for potential conflicts of interest, and approve if appropriate, all our “Related Party Transactions.” For purposes of the Audit Committee Charter, “Related Party Transactions” means those transactions required to be disclosed pursuant to SEC Regulation S-K, Item 404.
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Set forth below is information for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 relating to the compensation of each person who served as our principal executive officer and our executive officers whose compensation exceeded $100,000 (the “Named Executive Officers”).
Name and principal position | Year | Salary ($) | Bonus ($) | Awards ($) | Stock Compensation ($) | All Other Compensation ($) | Total Compensation ($) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michele Ciavarella | 2021 | 500,000 | (1) | 375,000 | (1) | — | 112,208 | — | 987,208 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Executive Chairman of the Board, and interim Chief Executive Officer | 2020 | 261,667 | 465,938 | — | 80,023 | — | 807,628 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Matteo Monteverdi(2) | 2021 | 425,000 | — | — | 301,247 | 4,009 | (3) | 730,256 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former Chief Executive Officer and President | 2020 | 131,667 | 54,861 | — | 82,006 | 120,360 | (4) | 388,894 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Luca Pasquini(5) | 2021 | 239,451 | — | — | 56,735 | — | 296,186 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former Vice President of Technology and Director | 2020 | 227,976 | — | — | 27,308 | 1,030 | 256,314 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alessandro Marcelli(6)(7) | 2021 | 292,208 | — | — | 55,382 | — | 347,590 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former Vice President of Operations | 2020 | 227,976 | — | — | 26,969 | — | 254,945 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mark Korb(8)(9)(10) | 2021 | 247,000 | — | — | 241,665 | 1,761 | 490,426 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Except as disclosed herein, no bankruptcy petition has been
No current director has been subject to any order, judgment, or decree, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any court of competent jurisdiction, permanently or temporarily enjoining, barring, suspending or otherwise limiting his involvement in any type of business, securities or banking activities, with the exception of the specific temporary restrictions that were limited to Canada and were mutually agreed to between Mr. Except as set forth above, no director has been found by a court of competent jurisdiction (in a civil action), the SEC or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to have violated a federal or state securities or commodities law, that has not been reversed, suspended, or vacated. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Code of Business Conduct and Ethics We have adopted a code of conduct that applies to all officers, directors and employees, including
Director Independence Our Board of Directors currently consists of five members. We have adopted the definition of “independent director” as set forth in Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq Stock Market. Accordingly, our Board of Directors considers a director to be independent when the director is not one of our subsidiaries’ officers or employees or director of our subsidiaries, does not have any relationship which would, or could reasonably appear to, materially interfere with the independent judgment of such director, and the director otherwise meets the independence requirements under the listing standards of the Nasdaq Stock Market and the rules and regulations of the SEC. In applying this definition, the Board has determined that our three non-employee directors, Messrs. Sallwasser, Shallcross and Mandel-Mantello, each meet the independence standards established by the Nasdaq Stock Market and the applicable independence rules and regulations of the SEC, including the rules relating to the independence of the members of our audit committee and compensation committee. Board Committees Our Board of Directors designated the following three standing committees of the Board: the audit committee, the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee. Charters for each of the three committees is available on our website at https://ir.elysgame.com/corporate-governance. From time to time, the Board of Directors may also establish ad hoc committees to address particular matters. Board Members and Committee Composition
Audit Committee
Executive Committee On August 28 2022, we established an executive committee comprised of Messrs. Ciavarella, Sallwasser, Shallcross Family Relationships There are no family relationships between our officers and directors. Stockholder Communications with Directors The Board All communications received as set forth in the preceding paragraph will be opened by the office of our Secretary and the Corporate Secretary’s office will make sufficient copies of the contents to send to each director who is a member of the group or committee to which the envelope or e-mail is addressed. The Board of Directors has instructed the Corporate Secretary to forward stockholder correspondence only to the intended recipients, and has also instructed the Corporate Secretary to review all stockholder correspondence and, in the Corporate Secretary’s discretion, refrain from forwarding any items deemed to be of Board Leadership Structure Mr. Ciavarella serves as
We believe that our company and its stockholders are best served by having Mr. Ciavarella, our Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Ciavarella’s role as Executive Chairman promotes unified leadership and direction for the Board of Directors and executive management, and it allows for a single, clear focus for the chain of command to execute our strategic initiatives and business plans. Our current structure is operating effectively and fosters productive, timely and efficient communication among the independent directors and management. We do have active participation in our committees by our independent directors. Each committee performs an active role in overseeing our management and there are complete and open lines of communication with the management and independent directors. Risk Oversight The Board has an active role, as a whole and also at the committee level, in overseeing management of our company’s risks. The Board regularly reviews information regarding our company’s strategy, finances and operations, as well as the risks associated with each. The Audit Committee is responsible for oversight of Company risks relating to accounting matters, financial reporting, internal controls and legal and regulatory compliance. The Audit Committee undertakes, at least annually, a review to evaluate these risks. The members then meet separately with management responsible for such area, including our Interim Chief Financial Officer, and report to the Audit Committee on any matters identified during such discussions with management. In addition, the Compensation Committee considers risks related to the attraction and retention of talent as well as risks relating to the design of compensation programs and arrangements. In addition, the Nominating and Governance Committee manages risks associated with the independence of the Board. While each committee is responsible for evaluating certain risks and overseeing the management of such risks, the entire Board is regularly informed through committee reports about such risks. The full Board considers strategic risks and opportunities and regularly receives detailed reports from the committees regarding risk oversight in their respective areas of responsibility. Review and Approval of Transactions with Related Persons The Board of Directors has adopted policies and procedures for review, approval and monitoring of transactions involving Elys and “related persons” (directors and executive officers or their immediate family members, or stockholders owning 5% or greater of the Company’s outstanding stock). The policy covers any related person transaction that meets the minimum threshold for disclosure in the proxy statement under the relevant rules of the SEC. Pursuant to our charter, our Audit Committee reviews on an on-going basis for potential conflicts of interest, and approve if appropriate, all our “Related Party Transactions.” For purposes of the Audit Committee Charter, “Related Party Transactions” means those transactions required to be disclosed pursuant to SEC Regulation S-K, Item 404. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION Set forth below is information for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 relating to the compensation of each person who served as our principal executive officer and our executive officers whose compensation exceeded $100,000 (the “Named Executive Officers”).
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