Catena Media

Catena Media is a lead generation company based in Ta’ Xbiex, Malta. The company was founded in 2012 and employs 390 people in Malta, the United Kingdom, Serbia, Italy, Sweden, the US, Australia and Japan.

Catena Media PLC
TypePublic
Nasdaq Stockholm: CTM
IndustryiGaming and Finance
Founded2012
HeadquartersQuantum Place, Triq ix-Xatt, Ta’ Xbiex, Gzira GZR 1052
Key people
Erik Bergman, Emil Thidell (founders), Göran Blomberg (Chairman)[1] Peter Messner (CFO)
Revenue€102.8 million (2019)[2]
€43.5 million (2019)[2]
Number of employees
404 (2019)
Websitecatenamedia.com

History

In 2008, childhood friends Erik Bergman and Emil Thidell started a web consultancy agency. For the first two years, the business operated from Thidell's parents’ basement, but in October 2010, the pair decided to move to Malta. In 2012, they established Catena Media, with a focus on lead generation for online gambling operators.

Kathryn Moore Baker, Catena Chairman

In 2013, Catena Media began rapidly expanding, entering the Norwegian and Finnish markets in addition to Sweden where its sole focus had lain. In October 2014, the company completed its first acquisition, with the company Finix Invest, and in 2015 acquired eight more companies in the UK, Netherlands and Belgium. The number of company employees reached 50 by the end of 2015.[3]

The company was publicly listed on Nasdaq Stockholm First North Premier in February 2016 with the ticker symbol CTM.[4]

In April 2016 Catena acquired the website AskGamblers.com for €15 million (US$17.1 million).[5]

In late 2016 the company acquired two British websites - SBAT.com, a sports statistics and betting tips website, for €13 million[6] and CasinoUK.com, for US$13.38 million.[7]

First quarter of 2017 revenues totaled EUR 15.23 million (7.46), an increase of 104 percent compared with the same quarter of the previous year.[8]

In April 2017, Catena Media relaunched casino comparison site JohnSlots.com.[9]

On December 21, 2017, it was announced that Catena Media has purchased Squawka, the global football news website for $1.3 million, which had been going through some financial difficulties.[10]

In March 2018, Catena Media appointed Nigel Frith to expand its services to financial sectors.[11]

In August 2018, Catena Media closed a sponsorship deal with the German unbeaten female boxing world champion Christina Hammer to promote their German site casinobonus360.de.[12]

In August 2018, Catena Media closed exclusive affiliate partnership deal with German online casino ladyhammercasino.com to be the only affiliate partner of a brand new online casino brand.[13]

In March 2020, Catena Media appointed Peter Messner as its new group Chief Financial Officer, replacing Erik Edeen, who had been serving as interim group CFO since succeeding Pia-Lena Olofsson in January 2019.[14][15][16][17]

AskGamblers.com

AskGamblers is one of Catena's largest websites, which features a player complaints resolution service. Players lodge disputes with the website, which then gives the relevant operator an opportunity to respond. Through the AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service $26 million of delayed, unfairly confiscated and otherwise unpaid money has been returned to over 9,873 players in total so far.[18]

BonusSeeker.com

In March 2018, Catena Media has added another site to its growing affiliate portfolio by buying US based BonusSeeker.com.[19] BonusSeeker provides casino player and sports bettors with unbiased reviews of online regulated gambling sites since 2016 across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and recently gone live Indiana.

”Through the acquisition of these assets we confirm our position as the number one player in igaming lead generation in the US"[20] said Henrik Persson Ekdahl, Acting CEO of Catena Media.

This site, besides reviews, also publishes information regarding the regulatory landscape of online gambling in the US. BonusSeeker.com is registered and complies with laws set by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control board.

Superscommesse.it

In June 2018, Catena Media acquired Italian sports news and lead-generator company ASAP ITALIA, and entered the Italian market for Sports Betting.

With this move, Catena Media entered the Italian sports betting affiliate market, through the website Superscommesse.it.

Superscommesse.it hosts dedicated sections about sports, sports betting, daily news, predictions and odds.

Additionally, it includes a news service through participatory sports journalism called “SuperNews”, this invites University Students and young journalists to get involved with sports journalism support themselves with a paid scholarship.[21] 

In October 2019, Catena Media issued the final payment for the full acquisition of ASAP Italia.[22] On the same year, Superscommesse won the EGR Awards as affiliate of the year.[23]

EsportsBets.com

Catena Media made two acquisitions, Baybets Ltd. in December 2017,[24] and i15Media in December 2016.[25] They focused on sports betting regulated markets for Germany and the US respectively, and these including esports betting assets designed for both markets. Gianfranco Capozzi, the Head of Esports in Catena Media since the BayBets acquisition in 2017, grew the department and with technological advancements.[26] He helped the company to detail how the gambling industry should incorporate Esports for the new generations of players.  

Under Gianfranco Capozzi, a new portfolio of esports related sites have been built and upgraded underneath the Catena Media banner. This includes properties like EsportsBets.com, a site that focuses on the esports betting industry, iGaming markets and bookies, Esports.net[27] a daily news site that looks at on competitive gaming news, esports trends and industry updates, and wagering esports products like BettingTips.gg, LiveEsportsBetting and EsportsBettingSite.com.

Catena Media virtual & esports portfolio also includes sites like VirtualSportsBetting.com, this covers  virtual gambling and industry news, virtual sports betting games, previews and markets analysis.

References
  1. "Catena sanctions board makeover as Kathryn Baker resigns from Chair duties".
  2. "Annual Report 2019" (PDF). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  3. "Annual Report 2018" (PDF). Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  4. "Nasdaq First North Catena Media". November 11, 2019.
  5. "AskGamblers.com acquired for EUR 15 million". Reuters. April 4, 2016.
  6. "Catena Media stiger på förvärv". Dagens Industri (in Swedish). October 4, 2016.
  7. Rostislav Danylyak (December 5, 2016). "Catena Media приобрела сайт CasinoUK.com". News in Gambling (in Russian).
  8. "Catena Media – interim report Q1 2017 - Catena Media".
  9. Harrison, Robin. "Catena Media relaunches JohnSlots casino comparison site - Gaming Intelligence". www.gamingintelligence.com. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  10. "Catena seals deal for Squawka". 15 December 2017.
  11. Administrator2. "Catena Media appoints Nigel Frith to lead financial services expansion - Gaming Intelligence". www.gamingintelligence.com. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  12. "Christina Hammer - Offizielle Homepage - Partners". www.ladyhammercasino.com.
  13. "Online Casino for you - ladyhammercasino.com". www.ladyhammercasino.com.
  14. "Catena Media names new finance chief". Gaming Intelligence. 2020-03-11. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  15. "Catena Media names Messner as new financial chief". iGaming Business. 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  16. "Catena Media appoints new CFO after 2019 losses". www.gamblinginsider.com. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  17. "Catena Media Appoints Peter Messner as New Chief Financial Officer". Tunf News. 2020-03-13. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  18. "AskGamblers Complaint Service Report 2015". CalvinAyre.com. March 2, 2016.
  19. "BRIEF-Catena Media Acquires BonusSeeker.com". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  20. "Catena Media confirms its market leading position in the USA by acquiring top affiliate site BonusSeeker.com". Catena Media. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  21. "SUPER NEWS - BORSA DI STUDIO ANNO 2018". news.superscommesse.it. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  22. "Catena Media makes final payment in ASAP Italia deal". iGaming Business. 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  23. "Catena gains Italian Vision with ASAP Sports acquisition". SBC News. 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  24. "Catena Media amends earn-out for BayBets acquisition". iGaming Business. 2019-07-09. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  25. "Catena beefs up US presence with i15Media deal". InterGame: iGaming, Casino & Coin-Op News. 2020-01-08. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  26. Contributor. "Esports arena: The necessity of disruption". EGR Technology. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  27. "Authors, Staff Writers, Editors & Journalists at Esports.net". Esports.net. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
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