Bet-at-home AG has chosen to surrender its UK licence and has notified customers that it will exit the marketplace.
The decision sees Bet-at-home choose not to contest its recent licence suspension, sanctioned by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) on 7 July.
The Frankfurt-listed operator had its licence placed under review by the Gambling Commission due to social responsibility and AML failings.
Choosing to avoid a review of its UK business, yesterday Bet-at-home issued a notice to customers and media partners that it had begun its UK withdrawal.
“Unfortunately, we’ve decided to surrender our operating license granted by the UK Gambling Commission and to exit the British market.” – read a company statement.
Bet-at-home has disabled its UK sign-up for new customers, as players have been warned to cash-out and withdraw their accounts by 30 September.
Its UK sportsbook will settle all existing bets until the period of 31 August – with outstanding wagers to be credited back to player accounts at a fixed-odds settlement of 1.00.
The UK exit comes as Bet-at-home seeks to maintain focus on its financial bounceback from the COVID-19 pandemic, having experienced a revenue decline of 54% during the first quarter of the year.
Meanwhile, the management of Bet-at-home continues to revise its DACH markets strategy, having been forced to withdraw from Austria’s online gambling marketplace last year after losing a multi-million euro lawsuit that allowed Austrian players to reclaim online casino losses.
The board of Bet-at-home is scheduled to announce the Frankfurt firm’s Interim trading results on 22 August.