SPO.L Regulatory News (SPO)

10 Apr 2007 12:00

Orbis, the world's leading provider of interactive gaming andbetting solutions, recently signed an agreement with Sportech, theowners of Littlewoods Gaming. As part of revamping their pools andgaming service, Orbis will deliver a variety of games from theirOpenBet Fixed Odds Games and OpenBet Casino modules, plus theextensive functionality of the OpenBet Marketing module. The OpenBetsystem will be seamlessly integrated into Sportech's existingthird-party pools system. £ Sportech aims to rejuvenate its pools and games business to extendtheir offerings to new audiences, providing an improved customerexperience and utilizing new channels of distribution to offer agreater plethora of games to increased numbers of players. £ The OpenBet system enables players to benefit from a vast array ofenticing, graphically-rich games, while providing a singular log inand wallet process for ease of use and seamless game play. £ The 'One Account, One Wallet' solution delivers Sportech a clearerview of all its customer data held in one central database,facilitating data mining and segmentation for improved marketingservices. Via the OpenBet Marketing module, Sportech will be able tooperate and manage a new affiliate program, create and monitormarketing campaigns and deliver player promotions, gaining the abilityto cross-market seamlessly between different platforms and products,thus reducing player churn and gaining higher customer retention. £ Sportech will launch with a package of OpenBet games containingthe unique 'Top Bar' feature that can easily be re-branded, andincludes a scrolling message area, game instructions and rules.Additionally the 'Bonus Bar' allows players to view their progresstowards their next bonus. £ David Loveday, Managing Director of Orbis, said, "We are verypleased to be involved with Sportech as they expand and reinvent theirLittlewoods brands. We believe Orbis is in a position to provide themwith a platform for further growth through a combination of proven andflexible back office functionality, along with dynamic and excitingfront end games content." £ Commenting on the partnership, Ian Penrose, Chief Executive ofSportech, said, "Following a strategic review the Company is committedto reinvigorating the football pools and games business by providingan enhanced customer experience, new and advanced channels ofdistribution and ultimately extending its offering to new audiences.The partnership with Orbis will allow us to give our customers new,dynamic and exciting e-gaming products, as well as enable us toimprove our product marketing to existing and new audiences, providinga solid platform for growth." £ Orbis OpenBet presents seven distinct but compatible softwaremodules that include Sportsbook, Casino, Rake Games, Fixed Odds Games,Exchange, Retail and Marketing. It enables operators to provide theircustomers the ability to bet and play across multiple products andplatforms in a wide variety of languages and currencies, whilstoffering a unique 'One Account, One Wallet' solution. £ About Orbis £ Established in 1996, Orbis Technology Ltd, an NDS company, is theworld's leading provider of interactive gaming and betting solutions. £ By utilising the Orbis OpenBet(TM) software platform with itsunique 'One Account, One Wallet' solution, operators are able toprovide their customers with the ability to bet and play acrossmultiple products and platforms in multiple languages and currencies. £ Each of Orbis' customer agreements includes an undertaking fromthe customer that its gaming operations that use Orbis' software willnot involve players in the United States or any other jurisdictionwhere such gaming operations are prohibited by law. £ To find out more about Orbis OpenBet visit www.openbet.com. £ About NDS £ NDS Group plc (NASDAQ:NNDS), a majority-owned subsidiary of NewsCorporation, supplies open end-to-end digital technology and servicesto digital pay-television platform operators and content providers.See www.nds.com for more information about NDS. £ About Sportech PLC £ Drawing on over 80 years of experience, Sportech PLC, through itsvarious businesses, including Littlewoods Football Pools, hasdeveloped a wide-ranging gaming product portfolio which includesfootball pools and football games, on-line casino, poker andentertainment games including bingo. Sportech has over 600,000customers, 500,000 of whom play the football pools on a weekly basis,making the football pools business the second most popular weeklygaming activity in the UK. £ Sportech is continually developing access to its gaming productsthrough a network of channels to include the internet, mobile phones,telephone, post and a UK network of collectors who visit customers attheir homes. £ Sportech PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:SPO). Formore information, visit www.sportech-plc.co.uk £ Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-looking Statements £ This document may contain certain "forward-looking statements"within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of1995. These statements are based on management's views and assumptionsregarding future events and business performance as of the time thestatements are made. Actual results may differ materially from theseexpectations due to changes in global economic, business, competitivemarket, regulatory and other factors. More detailed information aboutthese and other factors that could affect future results is containedin our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any"forward-looking statements" included in this document are made onlyas of the date of this document and we do not have any obligation, nordo we undertake, to publicly update any "forward-looking statements"to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required bylaw. Copyright Business Wire 2007