{{Infobox company , name = Centric Holdings S.A , type = Anonymi Etairia , traded_as = {{Athex, CENTR , foundation = 1995 , location_city =

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, location_country =

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, key_people = Rodolfo Odoni (Managing Director)
Ioannis Capodistrias (Vice-President)
George Athanasopoulos (Chief Operating Officer) , revenue = {{increase

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

859. million (2015) , num_employees = {{steady 14 , homepage =
www.centric.gr
Centric Holdings S.A, also known as Centric, is a Greek public company, trading in the ATHEX since 2002. Its 2015 Financial Year turnover stood at circa €859m.

History

Centric was founded in 1995 under the trading name "Group Multimedia Systems S.A." and it specialized in the production and distribution of digital products and home entertainment services. Since its inception the company expanded its operations in the digital gaming industry, representing and distributing game consoles, computer games, online games and computer and gaming console peripherals in the Greek Market. In 2001, Centric signed an agreement with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

for the distribution of the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

gaming console in Greece, establishing its position in the digital home entertainment market. In 2002 Centric was listed in THEXfor public trading. Due to the intense competition and the illegal

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

copying ("piracy") of gaming software, which ultimately suppressed gross profit margins and have therefore restrained long-term growth prospects for the digital home entertainment industry, Centric decided to explore different investment opportunities in order to enhance its presence in the digital entertainment industry. Hence in 2007 the company decided to focus on the integration of online services capitalizing on its vast experience on the business. The online entertainment companies at the time were offering a combination of traditional services such as

sportsbook In the United States, a sportsbook or a race and sports book (sometimes abbreviated as book) is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, horse racing, ...

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

and several soft games. Therefore, in 2007 Centric started shifting its investments in areas with better growth prospects in order to boost its financial performance. The company acquired 21% of ECN Management Ltd, a company that owns the VistaΒet.com site. In addition Centric acquired 100% of Flyer S.A., which was the marketing partner of Sportingbet Plc for the provision of its online entertainment services in the Greek language.

Expanding partnerships and present

In 2008 Centric raised its stake in ECN Management Ltd to a total of 51% further enhancing its position in the online entertainment market. The company gradually distanced itself from the activity of the distribution of digital content and in 2011 has decided to discontinue it. Further, in 2012 under a decision of the General Meeting of its shareholders, Centric has changed its name from Centric Multimedia to Centric Holdings, trusting that the new name depicts better and more accurately its current activities. Centric core activity is still to participate in online entertainment industry companies. Its subsidiaries cooperate with Sportingbet Plc, now a subsidiary of Gaming VC, in the exploitation of "Sportingbet" and "VistaBet" brands. Additionally, Centric owns minority stakes in companies that are active in the shipping industry and it is also active in the Renewable Energy Sector.

References

Centric Website

p&L data

balance sheet
Entertainment companies of Greece Companies listed on the Athens Exchange

History

Expanding partnerships and present

See also

References