foreign ERS and welcome to another episode of the GI huddle uh Temple here editor of gambling cider and I'm with Gustav Hagman CEO of Leo Vegas and a returning guest good stuff how are you good thanks and uh thank you for having me back it's always nice yeah we're excited to have you back especially because um this is a great segue straight into our first question since the last time you were here uh so much has happened for Leo Vegas so um in short could you walk us through the last sort of couple of years and all the exciting developments that have gone on for you guys yeah indeed a lot has happened since last time we spoke it's um I mean Leo Vegas turned 10 years and that was a huge milestone for for us in the company and also well the founders myself and Robin and we launched new brands new markets made a lot of new Innovations for the industry with our products Etc opened up two new tech hubs one in Poland and one in Spain and uh we brought some new leaders into the management team so that's some part of it um another big thing actually is that we're not longer a listed company but we're part of MGM research and part of that family the MGM family and um yeah well you know that's one of the world's largest entertainment companies so all in all feels great yeah naturally I suppose you couldn't reflect on that period of time without mentioning the acquisition but I guess it's an impressive list of things you mentioned even before getting to that acquisition but if we if we're to talk MGM um how are things changed um you know if at all for you guys for yourself running the company but also for the wider organization well so of course A lot has changed but in some senses nothing has changed actually we still have the same promise to our customers to create the world's greatest eye gaming experience and we still believe that we will um will become and offer one of the greatest Brands out there with Lily I guess and now also with that MGM International of course and but we have a really strong backing now with MGM research and um that makes us stronger we can move quicker think a bit bigger and grow even faster than we did before so all in all we're also invest a lot in our teams our platform and um well there's some exciting things coming up as well and I think you know one plus one in this case actually makes three it's two lines coming together and that's a really a powerful force yeah absolutely yeah the lion branding is a is a nice plan of alignment as well as you mentioned and um certainly um you know your promise to customers um you know the global gaming Awards uh the victories you've had kind of in the casino category I think uh you know a good verification of that kind of promise I think it was the fifth time we we achieved um online casino of the year so that's uh that's kind of that's a good start right yeah yeah absolutely and that's kind of industry votes so the industry saying um that that's you guys so yeah that's kind of that verification um in terms of long-term goals um what are your kind of what are you looking to achieve is there is there a grand plan in the long term and certain things you'd like to achieve and how were they uh perhaps accelerated or Changed by MGM becoming involved so while as I said it's um with MGM we can think bigger and larger and uh move faster actually so that's um that would be the the main thing I would say we still sort of will offer the world's greatest Eye game experience of course and put a lot of efforts into our product development and uh and our um well essentially Innovation within the company as well but we'll get some extra jet fuel together with appjam and that's kind of extremely exciting I would say and I think that links quite well to the next topic I want to I want to ask about kind of so push gaming um so unless I'm unless I'm mistaken it's an acquisition by Leo Vegas but obviously with MGM as the parent of Leo Vegas um how does that acquisition fit into the wider jigsaw well so push gaming we've been looking for um a studio a game content Studio to acquire and uh and and actually this is about a few years back we started to look a little bit and then we well continue to grow as an operator and then with with MGM on board and those thoughts the larger part of the food chain uh we sort of woke up those ideas again to start look Hangouts game studios and I'm so extremely impressed with um what James and Winston the founders are push have been able to do the last couple of years it's extremely talented guys and that teams are extremely talented and they are industry leaders um and very innovatives when it comes to game creations um so I think all in all the Investments makes a lot of sense for us um and that enable us to build our own games but also be able to distribute games continue with the business to business model that push actually has today and so on um but also with some IP that we have within MGM that will be very interesting for the future to see what maybe we can build some games out of that as well and push will be continued continue to be around independently just like Leo Vegas yesterday so well I really look forward to seeing it grow absolutely I remember a couple of years ago when Leo Vegas started to look more into kind of as you say kind of make making your own content type thing and and this kind of push gaming uh fits into that um having I guess had maybe a couple of years experience in that um have you seen the the kind of benefits and advantages that you know you I guess would have imagined it in sort of going it um not going alone but having independent content rather than necessarily third party but we believe that with independent content we can um sort of you know well we have we had those Leo Vegas um uh games before as you say and we built games before with independent Studios smaller Studios and this time we're going to do it sort of in the family more of um I think it's important for us and I think it's important to have a 360 when it comes to The Branding so you can sort of um in in acquisition when you're advertising you're advertising your own Brands your own games and I think that's kind of natural and you can see some other operators that went went down that path and and how they actually are having more and more revenues coming from their own content I believe that's part of the future then of course you need to have some other content as well but it's um it's a learning curve in all of that no absolutely and um your most recent news uh the MGM launching in the UK and that's that was that was quite um what is yardstick but it's certainly a great compliment to everything you kind of look to achieve um can you talk us through the the circumstances behind the launch and the process the planning that went into it well we really believe it's really fantastic and it's really an amazing opportunity to take better Jam International and uh bringing bringing up that brand in in the UK markets and um combining our technology Leo Vegas technology and know-how with MGM Heritage and IP rights it's um what we believe is an sap for success and also an important eye gaming Market such as the UK markets um and also I would like to say that this is just the first step in in The Wider International expansion so it's um extremely exciting times and we're really it's a lot of people have been involved in in creating uh the international part of batam jam if I can tell you yeah so I imagine from what you're saying we could be seeing sort of new regions new new markets and I'm sure we'll we'll hear about those in due course but uh looking at the UK specifically you know it's a it's a big market so it's a it's an achievement to sort of launch in that market in the first place but obviously it's a it's a it's a tough Market um realistically how much kind of market share can the MGM take and um I I don't know if you have any specific Targets in mind because you know it is tough to to be specific in that area but yeah what kind of market share are you hoping for or looking at well we believe that the brand itself can make a big impact in the UK Market of course um I I can I can actually say that we haven't seen much happening in the UK market for the last like 20 years but believe it we are convinced that with betamgem and are then again award-winning technology at Leo Vegas we can truly make a difference in the market and also that the customers will appreciate it so it's um well if you if you and I talk again in about a year or two then we can follow up on this success yeah it would be interesting to to compare that exactly how it's gone and yeah like you say um I take a point certainly that there's there's established Brands within the UK and as you say that that perhaps hasn't been that much changed in that time yeah so I suppose the word you're looking for uh I could be looking for describe is you're looking to disrupt it um and which is something certainly Leo Vegas has done uh in other markets exactly exactly and we put a lot of efforts behind this and uh as as we said to our teams out here those first 10 years that's only been training and guys this is what you've been trained for do yeah uh the good way of looking at it um obviously so Leo Vegas is you know looking to expand MGM internationally um but I suppose a question almost flipping on its head does Leo Vegas itself have any plans or Ambitions in the future to maybe grow in the US um so maybe use mgm's resources to sort of go the other way well as Bill our CEO for mgrm he was very clear that we are part of the international digital strategy from Jam um well International growth is that's what we are looking and focusing on and uh well we are making sure to grow our distribution across all our markets and even grew in New Markets but International ones so yeah so International remains a priority and the keyword fair enough um I think a final area I wanted to I wanted to talk to you about is is uh obviously keeping Leo Vegas uh in mind because how can you not um you know you're Central to your organization but when we spoke um for the CEO Special A couple of years ago you you talked us through the many kind of entrepreneurial projects you worked on and you I think it's fair to describe it as a serial entrepreneur but um this this Leo Vegas what you've achieved and I guess the scale you're now operating at with with MGM um how does it compare to kind of pre biggest projects you've had and are there any maybe potential products projects in the future that might be a little bit crystal ball type but I think maybe we focus on the first part of the question how does it compare to you know other projects you've had in the past well I mean of course this is by far my largest Venture ever I mean what I've been doing prior to Leo Vegas has just been sort of you know training for fully a Vegas more or less again and I think now being part of the MDM it's um extremely exciting and we still keep a very clear entrepreneurial spirit and mindset because while we're around independently so that also sort of creates well what do you call it it's more stable and it feels really great and we're growing on new markets we're innovating on products and also M A which is really something new for us at least that scale of M A that we're looking at so that's really interesting so yeah I'm extremely committed and looking forward to this new chapter polio Vegas um I think one one final thing I'll just add to that generally is uh future goals um you've kind of mentioned some already but for for a final word to perhaps end on what are you maybe looking at prioritizing to the close of the year and moving into 2024 um oh that's a good question a question but of course uh the rollout of uh betamjam and then of course a few new markers that we're looking at with Leo Vegas so well it's really exciting what's happening now and the fall is going to be very exciting and also of course next year very exciting yeah and planning to keep you busy um yeah but yeah good stuff thanks very much for your time uh enjoyed speaking with you and um yeah I'm sure we'll I'm sure we'll catch up again soon and I'm sure we'll hear a lot more from from Leah Vegas and Jim in the coming months we will thank you Tim thanks a lot thank you very much