KTO founder rejects reports of closure in Brazil

KTO Group founder Andreas Bardun has pushed back against reports that the company is shutting down after Brazil’s online gambling ban, describing claims of its demise as “greatly exaggerated.” Reports of KTO Group’s closure emerged after Anthony MacKay, the company’s head of affiliates, announced on LinkedIn that recent developments in Brazil had led the group to close its doors. Anthony MacKay wrote: As many of you have heard by now, the recent developments in Brazil have unfortunately led KTO Group to closing down its doors. This is a very personal and emotional post for me to write. I still remember my first day vividly…Fast forward to now, although this is the end of a chapter, I look back at these past few years with nothing but pride and gratitude for what we have managed to build. On a final note, although this may be the end of KTO as we know it, its values will always live with me both personally and professionally. I also want to mention that with these recent events, many of my colleagues are now looking for their next opportunity, and it’s a gold mine of talent which any company would be lucky to have. However, Bardun subsequently posted that “the reports of KTO Group’s death are greatly exaggerated.” The operator whose headquarters is located in Malta now has serious uncertainties due to the online gambling ban imposed by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on September 25. KTO used to provide its operations solely in Brazil following the retreat from Chile and Peru in August 2024. Its focus on one market now puts the operator under increased risk of the negative impacts of the ban. Meanwhile, Brazil’s regulated gaming sector is already advocating against the measure, claiming that it violates five-year licenses provided in exchange for a non-refundable R$30 million payment. Industry organizations incl. ANJL and IBJR are lobbying to cancel the ban as well. At the same time, there are still uncertainties regarding the future of Brazil’s gambling restrictions in terms of political and legal processes.