888 Corporate
888 – The power to succeed
Dragonfish is an independent division of 888, following 888’s move into the business to business (B2B) arena in 2007. When you partner with Dragonfish, you are connecting to the management expertise and service strength of one of the world’s leading online gaming companies.
As a division of 888 we have access to global partner networks, giving you the immediate ability to deal with local markets worldwide. The financial and operational strength behind Dragonfish enhances your speed to market, and delivers instant liquidity to you, across our gaming networks.
Corporate history
888 was founded in 1997 as Virtual Holdings Limited. Having obtained a gaming license in Antigua together with its Tel Aviv-based R&D and marketing division, 888 launched one of the world’s first online casinos: Casino-on-Net.
In 2002, 888 launched its second casino product – Reef Club Casino – as well as its 888 brand and its multi-player online poker room, Pacific Poker. The company then relocated its head office to Gibraltar, given the latter’s status as a recognised EU financial centre with an established regulatory framework for gaming activities.
In 2005, 888 floated on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, and it is now a constituent of the prestigious FTSE250 index. 888 has also diversified its consumer facing business away from a US market dominated Casino and Poker model to a more internationally diverse gaming entertainment business with a significantly expanded product offering. This now includes a market leading Bingo offering, sports betting, ‘Live Dealer’ and backgammon.
Business to business strategy
In 2007, 888 made the significant strategic move from a pure business-to-consumer model to a combined approach, which included working with carefully selected strategic partners aiming to become online gaming operators.
The company has continued the development of its B2B offering and has become a leading provider of technology, operations and knowledge to business partners, using its existing capabilities. From Q2 2009, 888’s business to business division was renamed Dragonfish. The creation of Dragonfish signals 888’s intention to become a major player in the B2B market, promoting the strengths of 888’s knowledge and experience whilst highlighting the division as an independent service to clients.
888 believes there is a huge opportunity in this area especially as the operator environment is fragmented and existing lottery operators are optimistic that online offerings will become major future growth opportunity. In the 12 months to 31 December 2008, 888 reported revenues of US$262.5m and pre-tax profit of US$48.6 million.
