Online gambling companies in take-over talks

Some online sports gambling enthusiasts in Ireland may confine their gambling activities to the two highest profile online bookmakers in the country, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes, but many will also gamble with one or more of the other major European online bookmakers. Two of these major bookmakers are currently in the news because of potential take-over talks between them which may end the long running saga as to who will eventually own Sportingbet. It is not that long ago that Ladbrokes pulled out of talks with Sportingbet over fears about their unregulated Turkish online gambling operations, but we at gambling.ie can now report that William Hill appear to have entered the fray in partnership with a much smaller online gambling company, GVC Holdings. The advantage of this particular partnership is that GVC Holdings already own Sportingbet’s Turkish language online gambling business, thus reducing the effect of any potential problems for William Hill. The prime target for William Hill, as it was for Ladbrokes is the very profitable Australian online gambling operation owned by Sportingbet, which currently provides a huge proportion of Sportingbet’s profits. Whether or not the ownership of the online bookmakers has any relevance for the sports gambling and casino gambling customers of these companies is open to question, but whatever the outcome of the current talks there is clearly a desire on the part of online gambling operators to get bigger. As online gambling enthusiasts we can only hope that any growth in the financial muscle of these major online gambling companies will lead to increased investment and result in improved gambling opportunities and facilities for us all. The initial bid from William Hill has so far been rejected out of hand so time will tell whether this particular deal will come to fruition, but there is clearly a will on both sides.