AGTech agrees deal to promote China Sports Lottery

Hong Kong-based investment holding company, AGTech Holdings Limited (8279:HKG), announced Thursday that it has agreed a three-year deal with Guangdong Province Sports Lottery Center that will see its market promote and provide operations and sales of China Sports Lottery throughout its parent company’s, Alibaba Group, offline retail channels, such as Ling Shou Tong and Rural Taobao, in Guangdong Province.

AGTech will, under the terms of the strategic cooperation framework agreement, expand the sports lottery’s sales network through the various offline channels of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA:NYSE), a Chinese multinational e-commerce, retail, Internet, AI and technology conglomerate, providing sales and operations, marketing and promotion of what is one of two authorized lotteries operated by the Chinese government, within the Guangdong Province, according to the press release.

At the present time, thousands of Rural Taobao service stations, along with convenience stores using the mobile app, Ling Shou Tong, are being operated by Alibaba throughout the coastal province of southeast China.

By integrating the lottery into the above-mentioned locations, customers and Alibaba’s expansive customer base with unequaled access to the sports lottery.

The partnership combines both party’s expertise and resources while promoting cross-channel integration. The result of which will be improved marketing outcomes via customer base integration, as well as aiding the growth, access and reach of the sports lottery product and thereby improving the volume of lottery sales as a whole, said AGTech.

Commenting on the agreement, Chariman and Chief Exectutive Officer for AGTech, John Sun, said, “We are very positive about the promising growth prospects of the lottery business in Guangdong Province, which already has a leading position in China in terms of sports lottery sales revenue.”

Sun continued by communicating that total sales of RMB19.3 billion were generated by Guangdong sports lottery in 2017, which comprised upwards of 9 percent of total sports lottery sales. “The existing scale of the Guangdong lottery market and its potential give us great confidence that this will be a very successful cooperation,” said Sun.

He explained further, “Given the considerable scale of lottery sales in Guangdong Province, Alibaba’s various ubiquitous retail network and channels as well as our expertise and experiences in the lottery channel business, we believe this strong combination will further improve the consumption pattern and experience of sports lottery products as a whole.

“As the exclusive lottery platform of Alibaba Group and Ant Financial Group, we will continuously explore and pursue innovative opportunities in the industry and form partnerships with leading players, with the goal of advancing the lottery industry and contributing to the healthy development of the national sports cause and public welfare.”