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The timing could not have been better; as UK online bingo group Cashcade was being snapped up by Party Gaming last week for a reported GBP 100 million an independent statistical site pronounced the bingo operator as the UK leader in the field.
Cashcade operates top brands like Foxy Bingo, Mirror Bingo, Think Bingo and Cheeky Bingo, and has been consistently hosting over 2 500 average daily concurrent users in its 7 online bingo networks in the 3 months to June 30, 2009; representing around 23 percent of the total UK online bingo market share, reports the independent bingo information portal Bingoport.co.uk.
The next closest competitor is the stand alone bingo site, Tombola, with just over 1 200 average daily concurrent players, followed by Gala Bingo with around 1 100 average daily concurrent players.
Bingoport assesses Cashcade’s rise as a notable success story in the UK online bingo industry, where traditional land based companies have in the past dominated. The group's purchase of Herotech and Independent Technology Ventures for GBP 13.5 million in 2007 saw its portfolio increase through strategic acquisition, but it has been its success with organic growth, smart marketing and strategic innovation that has seen it power to the top spot in the industry.
“Cashcade has been the market leader for the past two years in terms of their innovative online bingo products, promotions and marketing,” said BingoPort.co.uk managing director and co-founder, Scott Logan.
“Cashcade took the industry to another level earlier this year with the introduction of the innovative free/pay online bingo site, Cheeky Bingo; which now accounts for 33 percent of Cashcade’s overall bingo player traffic.”
Patrick Southon, the m.d. of Cashcade, commented that the present is just the dawn for interactive online games like bingo.
"With the addition of mobile, Interactive TV as well as international opportunities the future is exciting for companies like Cashcade - a business which is unencumbered [by debt] when compared to some of our peers," he added.
Southon has ambitions beyond the UK, revealing that the recent launch of new sites like Little Big Bingo and Kiss My Bingo extends Cashcade's gains in its core UK market, but that he is also considering wider possibilities.
“We do not want to lose focus on our number one market, the UK. We are looking closely at Spain and Sweden but we have a desire to take advantage of the whole European deregulation”, said Southon.
