DigiPlus Says It Sat Out the Final Rounds of New Zealand's NZ$15m Online Casino Auction

The Philippine operator behind BingoPlus and ArenaPlus says it dropped out of the last rounds of New Zealand's auction for the right to apply for an online casino licence, citing "market values". It is the second overseas plan to stall in a month, after Brazil's ban.

• DigiPlus Interactive told the Philippine Stock Exchange on 14 October that, "after further market analysis and determination of market values", it decided to abstain from the final rounds of New Zealand's auction for the right to apply for an online gaming licence
• It is not among the 11 entities the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) named on 13 October as winning the 15 rights to apply, at NZ$15 million a licence, so it never held a right that could lapse
• The company says the decision has no impact on its businesses or its international expansion strategy, and does not say how many licences it sought or where it stopped bidding
• It follows Brazil's ban on online betting and gaming, which DigiPlus said on 28 September was not expected to have a material impact, and leaves South Africa, where it holds three Western Cape licences, as its live overseas project
• At home, S&P Global expects DigiPlus to keep 40% to 50% of the legal Philippine online market, which, with Brazil shut and South Africa not launched, is in effect its whole business

DigiPlus Stepped Back Before the Clock Stopped

DigiPlus Interactive Corp., listed in Manila as PLUS, updated investors on its New Zealand plan in a disclosure dated 14 October. "After further market analysis and determination of market values, the Company has decided to abstain from the final rounds of the New Zealand auction on the right to apply for an online gaming license," the filing says. "This results in no impact on the Company's businesses or deviation from the Company's international expansion strategy." Asia Gaming Brief first reported the filing.

On 4 August, alongside its second-quarter report, DigiPlus's board approved filing an expression of interest to apply for a New Zealand gaming licence, according to an earlier disclosure. The DIA's expression of interest stage closed on 14 August.

The auction ran from 29 September to 12 October as an ascending clock auction, in which every participant is offered the same price at each step and chooses whether to stay in or withdraw. According to the DIA, it drew 32 bidders, ran 10 rounds and closed at NZ$15 million (approximately $8.4 million) per licence, with 11 entities winning the 15 rights, from Baytree Interactive with three to SkyCity, Stake New Zealand and TAB New Zealand. No DigiPlus entity is on the list.

DigiPlus's wording implies it bid in earlier rounds and left before the price settled, though the filing does not say so in terms, nor disclose the price it was prepared to pay, how many licences it sought (no one may hold more than three) or the entity it bid through. The DIA has not named the losing bidders.

What Abstaining Means Under New Zealand's Rules

Because DigiPlus left before the auction ended, there is no right for it to forfeit and nothing for the DIA to re-offer. The winners must now pay the auction price and pass a suitability assessment. The DIA does not say when, or whether, further rights will be offered; each licence runs for up to three years, renewable for five. Until the regime is in place no new provider may enter the market, and from 1 December providers that have not applied must stop serving New Zealanders.

A Second Overseas Plan Stalls in a Month

New Zealand was to be DigiPlus's third overseas market after Brazil and South Africa, InsiderPH reported in August. Brazil, the first, has gone backwards. DigiPlus won federal authorisation there in January 2025 and soft-launched its GamePlus brand that September before pausing it weeks later, according to InsiderPH; in April it told the exchange it was targeting full commercial operations in the first half of 2026. On 28 September it disclosed that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's provisional measure prohibiting fixed-odds betting and online gaming had taken effect immediately, subject to congressional approval within up to 120 days, and said it expected no material impact, as listed groups counted the cost of Brazil's ban.

South Africa is further along on paper. DigiPlus, which first applied there in September 2025, told the exchange on 16 April that the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board had approved three licences, in a province it says produced about 31% of South African online gaming revenue in 2025. Its then president, Andy Tsui, had said a soft launch would come in early 2027, according to the Daily Tribune.

The Price Was a Judgment, Not a Constraint

NZ$15 million is about PHP530 million. DigiPlus ended June with PHP10.51 billion in cash, approximately $167 million, after paying PHP3.8 billion in dividends and putting PHP12.2 billion into International Entertainment Corp.'s convertible notes, according to InsiderPH. One licence would have cost about 5% of that cash, and the maximum three about 15%, before duty and levies. DigiPlus could have paid. Its phrase "determination of market values" says it chose not to: a company with half of a large Asian market looked at the clearing price and decided the numbers did not work for a newcomer.

Bidders Who Know New Zealand Could Afford to Value It Higher

An ascending clock rewards the bidders with the best information about what a licence is worth. Several winners already know New Zealand players: SkyCity is a New Zealand casino group, TAB New Zealand is one of the country's statutory providers, and Baytree Interactive belongs to Betway owner Super Group, according to iGaming Expert. A Manila operator whose products, in S&P's words, "suit local tastes" was bidding with far less local information. Dropping out is consistent with that gap, and not, on the evidence of the filing, with any problem at the DIA's assessment stage, which DigiPlus never reached.

The Strategy Is Intact on Paper and Thin in Practice

DigiPlus says nothing has changed in its international strategy, and narrowly that is right: it gave up nothing it held. But of the three overseas markets InsiderPH listed in August, one is shut by a provisional measure pending Congress, one is off the table and the third has licences but, on the company's own timetable, no launch before 2027. Diversification was meant to dilute the Philippine risks S&P listed, from e-wallet delinking to Senate bills. For now it has not.

DigiPlus has made a disciplined call in New Zealand and lost nothing it had. It has also confirmed that, for the time being, its fortunes still rest almost entirely on Manila.