Category: Industry news
Betfair reject £900m takeover offer
Betfair came out this morning and rejected an offer by CVC of 880p per share. With 103m shares in issue, that values Betfair at roughly £900m. Betfair shares closed at 800p on Friday so expect another jump up today.
Mark Davis had some interesting reflections on the offer on his blog. His comments are always worth a look as he is a big shareholder and obviously an insider on the whole Betfair thing. He has often given insight to …
More confusing exchange legislation, this time in Italy
News last week that legislation has been tabled in Italy to legalise the use of Betfair from an exchange perspective. But the legislation looks horrible.
For about two years Betfair have not been accepting new registrations from Italian customers, so an update on legislation has been long awaited. From what I can make out at the moment the Italian exchange will only be open to Italian residents betting on a very restricted range of markets. For example there would be …
Ladbrokes complete Betdaq purchase
Haven’t they already I hear you say? No, that was an offer to buy, from there follows due diligence and various other bits and bobs.
Here is the offical announcement – http://otp.investis.com/clients/uk/ladbrokes/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=262&newsid=324294
So from 1st March Betdaq officially became part of Ladbrokes. Let the fun and games commence!…
US States agree online gambling bills
News this week that first Nevada then New Jersey have agree bills that legalise online gambling. Hurrah I hear you shout!
But wait, what’s this? Read through the detail and you find that actually both bills are a bit restrictive in terms of the fine detail.
In terms of the latter, the bill only allows Atlantic City casino companies to take online bets. Furthermore, the bill will only allow bettors from other states to gamble online, as long as regulators …
Betfair wields the axe
Lots of news stories floating around last week about redundancies at Betfair. Most reports quoted redundancies in the ‘hundreds’. The news first came to light when GamblingCompliance revealed that around 80 jobs had been cut from Betfair’s London headquarters. eGamingReview went on to announce that the total number of redundancies could top 650.
This appears to be part of CEO Breon Corcoran’s attempts to ‘rejuvenate’ the business by cutting £20m in annual expenses as stated in their December analyst call. Some …
Lots of ICE
Just completing a busy week. It was one of more research, a fair bit of trading and a ton of meetings with people in the industry.
This week there have been a number of industry events on in London, the main one is called ICE. I am at the last one this morning, before heading back to the office this afternoon. These events take place each year and it’s where all the glitterati from the world of gambling come together under …
Bert in £3m Betfair cash out
According to a regulatory filing notice issued on the 24th January; Andrew Black, one of the founders of Betfair, ‘cashed out’ £3m worth of shares on Wednesday.
In my experience there can be any number of reasons to sell shares, but only one reason to buy them. So I’m not sure a sale is that significant. Also, he still has 7,817,390 left! When Bert left the board is was a watershed moment for Betfair. It’s never been the same since.
It …
Ladbrokes acquire Betdaq
Major, but not totally unexpected, news in the betting exchange world this morning.
I really felt that exchanges could change everything when I first started using them, but lately it almost felt like they were regressing to a standard betting model! I am hopeful that this news will breath new life into the betting exchange concept and allow things to start moving forward again in a more positive manner than we have been used to in recent years. While we …
Ladbrokes confirm talks with Betdaq
In a brief statement issued today Ladbrokes confirmed the long runner rumours that have been around for some time, that they ARE in talks to acquire Betdaq.
The short statement said: -
“The Board notes repeated press speculation regarding Betdaq. Ladbrokes enjoys a close commercial cooperation with Betdaq and can confirm discussions regarding a potential future acquisition.
Negotiations are ongoing though at this stage there is no certainty that an agreement will be reached.
Any further announcement will be made …
William Hill agree to buy Sporting Bet
The boards of William Hill plc , GVC Holdings plc and Sportingbet plc are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended offer pursuant to which GVC will acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Sportingbet and members of the William Hill Group will acquire the Sportingbet Australian Business and certain other assets from the Sportingbet Group and be granted a call option over the Sportingbet Spanish Business (the “Offer”).…
Betfair forced to exit Germany
In another blow for international expansion Betfair has been forced to exit Germany.
In July Germany applied a turnover tax of 5% on stakes which Betfair believed wasn’t applicable to it. Betfair confirmed that discussions are continuing with tax authorities regarding the potential tax liability, if any, arising from bets placed on its exchange since the law came into effect.
Betfair is now reviewing its operations in this market. In FY12, approximately 4% of Core Betfair revenue came from Germany …
The folly of protectionist legislation
If there is one certainty about the world, uncertainty. Disruptive moments and technologies have been a way of life since time immemorial, in fact it seems the universe is built on constant change. Without it we wouldn’t be here. Change can be difficult, but only if you don’t embrace it.
As an example, I found an interesting piece on the how the internet has transformed over a decade, have a look: -
http://mashable.com/2012/08/22/the-internet-a-decade-later/
Back when man decided to discard the …
Germany set to backtrack on Gambling laws
Recently the Germany state of Schleswig-Holstein, to much fanfare, announced the licensing of three operators in it’s territory, myBet, Betfair and Nordwest Lotto. Three weeks later, operators Bwin, Bet365, BetAtHome and Tipico were also approved with their gaming licenses.
However the state recently announced a shock decision to return to German’s Interstate Gambling Treaty. Ralf Stegner had the following to say according to EGR:
“We are beginning to clear the minefield in the German gambling legislation left by our predecessors …
Judicial Review rules in favour of Betfair
Full press release here: -
http://corporate.betfair.com/media/press-releases/2012.aspx
Basically William Hill have lost their case, which was arguing that an undefined group of Betfair customers should paying levy on profits. This premise carefully ignored the fact that Betfair customers already pay levy via Betfair by proxy and brushed over a number of other contradictory issues. From my view point and that of the friend of mine who is in the legal profession, it looked more like a competitive action than a legal …
Cyprus legislates against Betfair
The Cypriot government announced on Friday legislation that aims to restricts products that gambling operators can offer in the country. Product restrictions included processes that are “designed to facilitate the receipt or acceptance of bets between players”.
Betfair announced this morning that they intended to challenge the decision as “the company believes that the legislation contains serious flaws and, in certain areas, is inconsistent with European Union law. “
Betfair also announced that Cyprus “generated approximately 4% of revenue from …
Betfair fixed odds sportsbook launched
I’ve just seen a promo banner appear on Betfair which gave details on how the sportsbook will look and work. You can find out more details here: -
https://promotions.betfair.com/fixed-odds-uk
It looks like we finally have the launch of the sportsbook. Clicking into Euro 2012 football market provides the option to view both fixed odds and exchange odds. Exchanges odds are way better than the fixed odds. I can’t see any value add to a customer on placing a fixed odds …
Now Spain says yes and no to Betfair
Betfair confirmed today that thier exchange will be unavailable in Spain from early June upon receipt of a new gaming license.
It seems Betfair have been granted a licence for a sportsbook and will ‘transfer’ exchange customers to the sportsbook. But the exchange will be shut down while, “Betfair continues its constructive dialogue with the Spanish regulatory authorities and looks forward to working with them in the near future on the licensing of betting exchanges.”
Full details here: -
http://corporate.betfair.com/media/press-releases/2012/23-05-2012.aspx…
Goldman Sachs sells off entire Betfair LMAX stake
Missed this the first time around but thought it was of interest.
INVESTMENT bank Goldman Sachs has sold out its investment in LMAX, the online trading platform owned by Betfair. The bank’s exit comes as the platform struggles to live up to its earlier expectations. Its chief executive left last year as trading volumes failed to live up to hopes. Betfair said that its decision to invest a further £10m in LMAX diluted Goldman’s 12.5 per cent shareholding to less …
Betfair to continue with Racing in Australia
Reports coming in that despite their loss in the recent high profile court case, Betfair appear to have made the decision to continue to offer racing to Australian customers. Here is a copy of the correspondence.
Dear *****,
Many of you will be aware of a recent decision by the High Court of Australia which upheld Racing NSW’s decision to impose a turnover based fee on wagering operators.
Due to the additional cost to Betfair associated with this decision …
Short Betfair!
Page seven of the business section in the Evening Standard today. Thought you may want to see it.
Basically they are saying short because of the GC stuff, which we know is not an issue anyhow, so a poor piece of journalism there. But also because the share buyback has supported the price and that is about to end. I’d say that was a better piece of insight.
Overall, It is going to be a big sporting year so I …
Betfair loses key Australian court case
Racing officials in New South Wales are rejoicing after a years-long challenge to their race fields legislation was this morning thrown out by the High Court.
Read more here – http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-30/racing-nsw-wins-court-battle/3922762/?site=melbourne
Betfair Australasia chief executive Giles Thompson says he respects the court’s decision but says it will reduce the competitiveness of wagering on racing in NSW. “A turnover fee will place extreme pressure on our ability to continue to offer our customers what we believe is the best product in …
UK Government changes remote gambling tax
During his budget speech today George Osbourne has announced plans to change the tax treatment of gambling tax so that it is generated at the point of consumption.
Depending on how it is implemented, this effectively stomps on offshore operators offering services to the UK while avoiding paying UK tax on those profits.
We have yet to see the detail yet, but that’s the breaking news.…
Fraud on client funds again?
WorldSpreads recently entered special administration after the company said in a statement that as at close of business on Friday 16 March, the board of directors believed there was a shortfall of some £13m in clients’ money. I offer my sympathy if you have been affected.
Basically it looks like they have been trading using clients funds, though official information is always a big foggy in these cases. If so, it would not the first time a company has done …
Online betting tax imposed
Stark headline for a lot in this sector, but in the latest austerity budget in Ireland there were proposals to level out the playing field by introducing a new tax on phone and Internet gambling. As always, details are a bit sketchy at the moment but shops have been taxed for sometime but other channels not, so this is addressing that discrepancy.
Quite how it will work and be enforced is difficult to see at the moment, but it will …
Set back for Betfair Australia
Scott reports on his blog that Racing NSW has won an appeal on what is clearly a discriminatory tactic against Betfair. Unless Betfair can overturn the ruling it’s a game changer in this territory for exchanges.
http://www.sportismadeforbetting.com/2010/11/racing-nsw-wins-racefields-legislation.html…
Man Utd to refinance
News story this morning about how the Glazer’s have given notice on their money borrowed from hedge funds.
Read more about the story here: -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/9192771.stm
It’s interesting because the interest payments on the debt have been putting a huge strain on Man Utd’s ability to spend money. A case in point in the following sentence: -
“Earlier this year the rate rose to 16.25%”
I’m aware that raising finance in the current market is tough and rates can be …
Posthumous Paul
I am sure you have heard of Paul the Octopus by now and his recent death. I think along with the Vuvuzela this was one of the things the World Cup will be remembered for. More than the football. But, putting aside the well acceptable cognitive and predictive abilities of Octopus vulgaris, just how clever is Paul?
Here is an excellent post that I missed first time around but found in my recent google search of our departed deity.…
No false start for Betfair float
Betfair shares got off to a good start last Friday on the London stock exchange. I am sure there will be plenty of excitement and speculation around the shares for some time. Betfair is a ‘new’ business, has good competitive aspects and is one that has seen rapid growth. Surely a ‘hot’ stock.
As you may be aware, I have been brought up on a diet of long term investing on the stock market and not speculation. My focus has …
Is £113m too much?
I see this enormous lottery jackpot has now been claimed.
I do wonder what is the point of gifting somebody so much money, especially in times of such austerity? I find it a little crass. I am sure the money could be put to excellent use in a number of ways, but gifting it to one person?!? I know there has to be an incentive to do the lottery, but I am sure most people would be very happy with …
European Court rejects gambling restrictions
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11234128
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) said German laws that protect state monopolies for gambling were “unjustifiable”.
The ruling could open the way for foreign betting companies to establish a presence in Germany.…
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