ZEAL Network

ZEAL Network SE
IndustryOnline lotteries
Founded1999; 26 years ago (1999)
FounderJens Schumann, Marc Peters
Headquarters
Hamburg[1]
,
Germany
Key people
Helmut Becker, Sebastian Bielski, Paul Dingwitz[2]
ProductsLottery tickets
Revenue116.1 million Euro[3] (2023)
Number of employees
192[3] (2023)
Websitezealnetwork.de

The ZEAL Network SE (formerly Tipp24 SE), headquartered in Hamburg, is an e-commerce group of companies that offers lottery products online. The brands of the ZEAL Group include Lotto24 and Tipp24.

History

1999 to 2009

Tipp24 was founded in 1999 by Jens Schumann and Marc Peters[4] and was funded with venture capital.[5] Since the beginning of 2000,[6] the company has brokered participation in almost all state lottery games via the Internet. At the end of 2001, the break-even point[7] and in 2003 a transaction volume of more than 100 million euros was reached for the first time.[8] From 2004 onwards, cooperations were started with portals and partners such as gmx.de, MSN, Yahoo and web.de.[9] The joint-stock company went public on October 12, 2005.[10] Due to the German Inter-State Gambling Treaty (Glücksspielstaatsvertrag) which came into force on January 1, 2008, Tipp24 had to temporarily cease brokerage activities in Germany as of January 1, 2009 until the legal situation had been clarified.[11] Tipp24 then expanded its business in other European countries.[12]

2009 to 2014

From January 2009 (until October 2019)[13] gaming orders were placed with MyLotto24 Ltd. via the website tipp24.com, which was operated by Tipp24 Services Ltd., based in the United Kingdom. MyLotto24 Ltd. operated an independent private lottery in the UK, and for this purpose, took over the official winning numbers and odds of the official Deutscher Lotto- und Totoblock and thus organized a so-called secondary lottery, legally a bet on the outcome of German Lotto.[14] At the end of 2009, the joint-stock company was converted into a Societas Europaea (SE).[15]

Following the First State Treaty amending the German Inter-State Gambling Treaty (Erster Glücksspieländerungsstaatsvertrag) and a separate Gambling Act in Schleswig-Holstein (Glücksspielgesetz in Schleswig-Holstein), the online brokerage activities with the subsidiary Lotto24 AG (previously Tipp24 Deutschland GmbH) was resumed in January 2012.[16] In July 2012, Lotto24 AG was floated on the stock exchange and separated from Tipp24 SE as part of a spin-off.[17]

On June 28, 2013, the company announced that it would relocate its headquarters from Hamburg to London. Lotto24 focused on Germany, while Tipp24 wanted to focus on the markets in the UK, Spain and the US. The listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange was retained.[18][19] The transfer of the registered office was completed with the entry in the English commercial register on February 7, 2014.[20]

Since 2014

Tipp24 changed its name at the end of 2014[21] and has been operating under the name ZEAL Network ever since. In June 2017, ZEAL Network SE was removed from the SDAX index (to which the shares have belonged since 2009)[22] due to insufficient market capitalization.[23] They returned to the SDAX in May 2020[24] and remained there until December 2023.[25] Due to regulatory risks in Germany for secondary lotteries, ZEAL announced the takeover of Lotto24 AG in November 2018.[26] It was completed in May 2019.[27] In September 2019, the decision was made to relocate the company's headquarters from London back to Hamburg. A key factor was the change of the business model: the secondary lottery business was converted into a state-licensed online lottery brokerage business on the basis of the brokerage license held by Lotto24, and the company became a partner of Deutscher Lotto- and Totoblock again.[28]

In 2022, ZEAL Network received the follow-up license for lottery brokerage in Germany for Lotto24 AG, which is valid until 2029.[29] In April 2023, ZEAL Network and its subsidiary Lotto24 received permission to organize virtual slot machine games on the Internet.[30]

Company

The company is managed by a three-member Vorstand (Board of directors), headed by Helmut Becker.[2] The supervisory board consists of six members.[31] The company had 192 employees at the end of 2023.[3] The company has offices in Hamburg, London and Madrid.[32] ZEAL Network has been a member of the World Lottery Association, an international organization that promotes the interests of state-licensed lotteries and related service providers, since 2023.[33]

The company operates on the market with its brands Lotto24, Tipp24, ZEAL Iberia, ZEAL Instant Games, ZEAL Ventures, freiheit+ and Deutsche Traumhauslotterie. The focus of Lotto24 and Tipp24 is on the brokerage of state-organized and own lotteries on the Internet, the main market is Germany. ZEAL Iberia is a partner of ONCE, a public organization for the blind in Spain, which is also known for its lotteries. ZEAL Instant Games is active in the games business, particularly with cooperation partners in the USA and South America. ZEAL Ventures invests in industry-specific start-ups. freiheit+ and Deutsche Traumhauslotterie are charity lotteries in Germany.[34]

According to its own information, the company has 1.2 million customers. The transaction volume amounted to EUR 843 million in 2023 (as of December 2023).[3]

References

  1. ^ Volker Mester: Lotto24 erhält Lizenz für Online-Automatenspiele. Tochtergesellschaft der Hamburger Firma Zeal Networks bietet bald auch Internet-Rubbellose an. Aktie steigt. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, April 8, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Robert Fletcher (2023-11-30). "Zeal streamlines executive board after Martens exits as COO". igamingbusiness.com. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  3. ^ a b c d Zeal Network SE (2024). Annual Report 2023 (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  4. ^ Alexander Hüsing (2007-05-15). ""Man muss auch loslassen können" – Marc Peters von Tipp24 im Interview". deutsche-startups.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  5. ^ Wilson, Harry. "Tipp24 to raise €280m in German gambling float". Financial News. Retrieved 2024-02-01. Bernau, Varinia (2023-04-28). "Earlybird-Chef Brandis: "Ich hatte das Gefühl, ich könne über Wasser laufen"" [Earlybird CEO Brandis: "I had the feeling I could walk on water"]. Wirtschaftswoche (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  6. ^ Mathias Eberenz: Glücksspiel. Die Hamburger geben schon seit Jahren am meisten für Lotto aus. Jetzt rollen die Kugeln auch im Internet. Lotto-Hochburg Hamburg. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, July 18, 2002.
  7. ^ Markus Ridder: Der Klick ins Glück. In: Horizont, April 18, 2002.
  8. ^ Tipp24 macht ihr Kreuzchen beim Listing. In: Börsen-Zeitung, September 2, 2005.
  9. ^ For gmx, MSN and Yahoo see Bijan Peymani: Wetten im Web. In: Werben & Verkaufen, No. 35, August 27, 2004. For web.de see "Web.de vertieft Partnerschaft mit Tipp24". new-business.de (in German). 2006-01-06. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  10. ^ "Tipp24-Aktie startet schwach an der Börse". faz.net (in German). 2005-10-12. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  11. ^ Sophie Laufer: Personalabbau: Nur 15 Arbeitsplätze bleiben in Hamburg. Tipp24 entlässt 139 Mitarbeiter. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, March 28, 2009.
  12. ^ Lottovermittlung im Internet ist wieder erlaubt. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, June 30, 2011.
  13. ^ Tipp24 SE: Konzernabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2009 bis zum 31.12.2009. Published on April 15, 2010 in Bundesanzeiger. ZEAL Network SE: Jahresabschluss zum 31.12.2019. Published on June 30, 2020 in Bundesanzeiger.
  14. ^ dpa (2009-09-24). "Der doppelte Jackpot". stern.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  15. ^ Tipp24 SE (2010-01-05). "Tipp24 – Umwandlung in SE abgeschlossen". eqs-news.com (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Lotto24 AG (vormals: Tipp24 Deutschland GmbH): Konzernabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2012 bis zum 31.12.2012. Publication in the Bundesanzeiger, April 18, 2013.
  17. ^ Lotto24 startet erfolgreich auf dem Parkett. In: Börsen-Zeitung, July 4, 2012.
  18. ^ n-tv (2013-06-29). "Flucht vor strengen Glücksspielregeln: Tipp24 zieht nach London" (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  19. ^ "Tipp24: Hauptversammlung entscheidet über Standortwechsel" (in German). 2013-04-13. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  20. ^ "Tipp24 SE: Internationalisierung im Geschäftsjahr 2013 konsequent verfolgt" (in German). 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  21. ^ Martin Brosy (2015-05-25). "Onlinewettenbranche – Aktien der bekanntesten Anbieter unter die Lupe genommen". Wallstreet:online (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  22. ^ Deutsche Börse (2009-06-04). "OVB Holding und Tipp24 werden in SDAX aufgenommen". deutsche-boerse.com (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  23. ^ "Grand City Properties löst Zeal Network im SDax ab". Finanznachrichten.de (in German). 2017-06-07. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  24. ^ Deutsche Börse (2020-05-05). "Außerplanmäßige Wechsel in SDAX und TecDAX". deutsche-boerse.com (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  25. ^ dpa (2023-12-18). "Schott Pharma in SDax aufgenommen: Dax unverändert". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  26. ^ dpa (2018-11-19). "Bewegung im Lottomarkt: Online-Anbieter Tipp24 übernimmt Lotto24". Focus Online (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  27. ^ "ZEAL schließt Lotto24-Übernahme ab". Finanznachrichten.de (in German). 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  28. ^ Dena Altdörfer (2019-10-15). "Zeal Network: Tipp24 wieder Partner des Deutschen Lotto- und Totoblocks". 4investors.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  29. ^ Yvonne König (2023-03-02). "Lotto-Dienstleister Zeal Network: Zweistelliges Umsatzplus". casino.org (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  30. ^ "Zeal erhält Lizenz". gamesundbusiness.de (in German). 2023-04-13. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  31. ^ Sebastian Bielski wird neuer Finanzchef bei Zeal Network. In: Börsen-Zeitung, 15. August 2023.
  32. ^ "Lotto24 erhält Übernahmeangebot von Zeal Network via Aktientausch". it-times.de (in German). 2018-11-19. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  33. ^ "Zeal wird Mitglied der World Lottery Association". gamesundbusiness.de (in German). 2023-04-04. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  34. ^ Zeal Network SE: Konzernabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2022 bis zum 31.12.2022. Publication on May 23, 2023 in Bundesanzeiger.

Official website