The newly announced deal that would involve the merging of Paddy Power as well as Betfair have received a warm welcome in the market with Betfair’s shares going up by 18% while those of Paddy Power rising by over 15%. On the other hand, there has been a decrease in shares for both William Hill and Ladbrokes.
A writer Jonathan Guthrie of the FT Lombard column claimed that the association is aimed at maximising profits deemed to reach over £5bn. He claimed that both firms have to do well considering their multifacetedintegrations of systems as well as cultures. However, this should not be given so much hope as it may end up like the case that was portrayed by the amalgamation of Quantities Easing which Lombard was giving much anticipation.
According to Cavendish Corporate Finance, there are more deals that are expected to be strike between various betting firms. Among them the Bwin and GVC/888 deal awaits as well as Ladbrokes and gala Coral deal.
Jonathan Buxton who is the Head of Consumer and a partner at Cavendish Corporate Finance claimed that the new merger between Betfair and Paddy Power forms the beginning of other expected deals to be strike by various betting companies. Increased regulations as well as tighter overheads are seen as two main loggerheads that affects M&A. This comes even after the betting business playing a bigger role in UK’s GDP with over £2 billion annually. However, this is not enough as parliamentarians have fought the non-complying betting firms that are based offshore in attempt to evade taxes. He added that to be on the gaining side, the betting firms have tried to make sure that securing economies of scale as well as cost saving is their number one priority.
Jason Trost, CEO and Founder of betting exchange Smarkets, is not pleased with the amalgamation processes and claims that Betfair should stick with its exchange model rather than indulging in other businesses. He added that it is not advisable Betfair to form alliances with antiquated bookmakers but instead should cuddle to the value added. This will definitely bring in short-term shareholder value as well as lack of innovations.
This article is published in: Betting companies, Betting deals
Tags: 888, Betfair, Bwin, Coral, GVC Holdings, Ladbrokes, PaddyPower, tax, UK, William Hill
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