LatestCasinoBonuses is the proud new owner of GamesandCasino, which was originally founded and started by iGaming legend, Dominique. She sold the site in the beginning of this year but due to the magnitude of the site the new owners felt strategically it was best to sell. LCB was more than qualified to take on the new venture.
Branching out since their first conception of LatestCasinoBonuses in 2006, the company has grown into a network of affiliate sites and has become a leader in the online gaming industry. Integrate the rich history of founder Dom who was instrumental in paving the way for affiliates and the LCB network who has an impressive history of their own; the acquisition of GamesandCasino can be summed up in one word – success.
We interviewed Joshua Chan, owner of LCB, on the acquisition and their plans for the future.
How did the acquisition first come about?
I noticed Dom’s post on CAP in 2013 looking for interested parties that might want to purchase gamesandcasino.com and I did respond and Dom and I exchanged a few emails, but after awhile the emails stopped coming and I got busy with new developments on LCB. Then once I had some time, I checked CAP and noticed Dom had sold the site. I emailed the new owners to let them know I was interested and 3-4 months later they responded and said they were interested. They sold it for a little more than they bought it for, but I felt the site was worth it so we proceeded with due diligence and the sale went through in July.
What was unique about Dom’s site that intrigued LCB to purchase?
The site is very old and has a huge amount of content. One of our strengths is that we have a large and very experienced team working away in all parts of the globe, with this competitive edge and the right approach we feel we can take the site to the next level.
Is a consolidation like this an industry trend? I think in any business it always has been, with LCB we are already constantly reviewing and gathering data so to publish the data in another form on gamesandcasino.com would only constitute to a small fraction of extra work.
Are sales like this something that LCB will be doing more often?
As Latest Casino Bonuses grows I can see more acquisitions, but we have to make sure they are the right ones so as not to detract from LCB’s primary philosophy – which is service to players first! Our ultimate goal is to give players value and treat them as our number 1 priority, this is something most affiliates do not do, most affiliates look for the best deal from the casinos etc and in the end players see the difference.
How much was the sale for?
It was not cheap, we bought the site for about 24 months revenue. The earnings had fallen dramatically over the past 4 years since the site had little new content being published and was somewhat abandoned. Our thinking was if we could get the revenue back to what it was we would be well in front in a few years.
What will be the most interesting parts about the revamp to the site? Building the team responsible for the daily running of the site, rolling out the new design and user interface so it is more visually appealing and easy to navigate for players. Then our focus will be on delivering value to the player. The biggest challenge comes when the dev guys have to switch from the old site to the new one. You need an experienced team for this.
What makes the shop unique?
The shop on LCB http://www.latestcasinobonuses.com/shop/ was conceived from an idea that casinolistings.com did first. The differentiating features are that we have more purchase options and we give more credits away for our members input on the site. We have one of the largest communities in this industry with over 60,000 members so it is easier for us to gain momentum and benefit from the shop. The members love it as they get a little something extra for their very valuable opinions and ratings and that has made LCB the most trusted member reviewed casino affiliate site online. I guess our goal was to be something like the TripAdvisor of this industry.
Can you share a few kind words about Dom?
I personally have never met Dom, I only know her by reputation and her interactions with the online community, which is that she has been and still is one of the pillars of the online gambling affiliate community. In my attempts to purchase the site from Dom directly and then on a much greater scale indirectly is that she has a lot of passion for what she has built, on our email correspondence when validating what the new owners told me about the site Dom gave me clear and decisive advice on how to restore the site back to it’s former glory. Thanks Dom, we will do our best me make you proud!