Centric Holdings, formerly Centric Multimedia, is a Greek company that holds investments in entertainment and multimedia businesses. It has been trading on the

Athens Stock Exchange The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE or ATHEX; , ''Chrimatistírio Athinón'') is the stock exchange of Greece, based in the capital city of Athens. It was founded in 1876. There are currently five markets operating in ATHEX: regulated securities mark ...

(ATHEX) since 2002.

History

Foundation and early year

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 corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

for the distribution of the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

gaming console in Greece, establishing its position in the digital home entertainment market. In 2002 Centric had a

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

on the Athens Stock Exchange and started trading in public.

Change of direction - 2007

Due to the intense competition and the illegal

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

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 A sportsbook is a venue where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, such as golf, football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, horse racing, greyhound racing, boxing, and mixed martial arts. The method of betting varies wit ...

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

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 2008 - 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 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 hotels, shipping and it is also active in the Renewable Energy Sector.

References

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External links