EveryMatrix Sues Norwegian State-Owned Operator
EveryMatrix is suing state-owned lottery operator Norsk Tipping over a nullified €150mcontract. The B2B software provider is seeking £34.6m in damages.
EveryMatrix Seeks Damages © Pixabay.
Malta-based EveryMatrix has started legal proceedings against Norsk Tipping, the state-owned company which runs the country’s national lottery. The business-to-business iGaming software provider claims £34.6m in damages, alleging a breach of a €150m contract.
EveryMatrix was awarded the contract after winning a Norsk Tipping tender in November 2020 to become the company’s new supplier of payment services.
However, payment solution provider Buypass, a rival bidder for the tender, appealed the decision to award the contract to EveryMatrix and was eventually awarded the contract. Bypass is 50% owned by the state operator.
Industry insiders believe the lawsuit will be heard in Norweigen courts sometime next month.
When the case goes to court, it will be the second time the matter has been in front of judges. EveryMatrix appealed Norsk Tipping’s tender award reversal, but the Hedmark District Court in April last year dismissed the case. The judge ruled that Norsk Tipping had not broken any rules in the process of awarding the contract to Buypass.
Norsk Tipping explained that EveryMatrix was ruled out in the review of the bids because the company had not disclosed vital information, namely the identity of subcontractors that it intended to use.
Furthermore, Norsk Tipping accused MoneyMatrix, a sister company of EveryMatrix, of ” participating in illegal gaming activities in Norway”. Adding MoneyMatrix had offered to be the payment platform for non-licensed operators as recently as the end of November 2020.
Norsk Tipping stated: “It was revealed that companies in the EveryMatrix group had participated in illegal gaming activities in Norway. Norsk Tipping assessed the circumstances so that it had a duty to reject EveryMatrix from the competition, and after thorough assessments, it was therefore decided to reject the company.”
Speaking to trade publication EGR, Stian Hornsletten, EveryMatrix CCO said: “The case is about suing Norsk Tipping for lost revenues because of wrongfully disqualifying us from the procurement which we originally won.”
Hornsletten also dismissed the conflict of interest claim that had been made by Norsk Tipping over the role of MoneyMatrix, saying: “We signed a letter guaranteeing that we were not in a conflict of interest. We had already stopped payment processing in Norway years ago. We already had a contract with Norsk Tipping for the casino, with all bingo, scratch cards and casino games being handled by EveryMatrix.
“We already had a very good relationship with Norsk Tipping,” Hornsletten added.
In EveryMatrix’s submission to the Østre Innlandet District Court, they said: “In EveryMatrix’s view, the rejection represents a compensation-related breach of the procurement rules, and the other conditions for compensation have also been met.
“Norsk Tipping’s decision to reject EveryMatrix on the basis of a conflict of interest was made on the wrong factual basis, and in any case goes further than necessary. The argumentation appears on the whole very constructed,” the statement concluded.
EveryMatrix has 530 employees and was founded in 2008. In 2019 Flutter Entertainment became a client, using the company for its CasinoEngine iGaming Integration Platform for Flutter’s Betfair brand.
