Betfred secures £195m funding for shop acquisitions
Refinancing package enables the UK bookmaker to complete deal for 322 retail betting shops from Ladbrokes Coral
Betfred has completed a £195m refinancing package to help fund the UK bookmaker’s acquisition of 322 licensed betting shops from Ladbrokes Coral.
The Warrington-based operator was advised by KPMG Debt Advisory and the senior debt package was provided by four banks, including RBS, Barclays, Lloyds Bank and Yorkshire Bank.
The refinancing enables Betfred to complete the acquisition of 322 retail shops from Ladbrokes Coral, which the latter had to offload to complete the merger of the two companies.
Betfred struck a deal in October to purchase the shops for a cash consideration of £55m, while Stan James acquiring the remainder of the 37 stores for £500k.
Nick Dodd, partner and head of debt advisory at KPMG in the UK, told the Manchester Evening News he expected more firms to follow in Betfred’s footsteps to fund their multi-channel strategies.
“Investment to develop a multi-channel offering and the in-shop experience for customers, particularly through the digitisation of outlets, is a real focus for established bookmakers as they respond to the challenge presented by online competitors,” Dodd said.
“We expect to see more firms seek external funding to fuel their expansion and build on strong growth in the industry,” he added.
In other Betfred news, the operator has also signed a deal with Inspired to launch the supplier’s Rush Darts Live virtual sports product to coincide with the PDC World Championships.
Rush Darts Live allows Betfred customers to select their own player match-ups and features a range of betting markets including ‘Match Winner’, ‘180 in Leg’, ‘Winning Checkout’ and ‘Winning Double’.
“Following the success of Rush Football Live and Rush Golf Live, both of which launched with Betfred.com earlier this year, we’re delighted to be bringing yet more compelling on-demand Virtual Sports content to our customers,” Rakesh Chablani, managing director of Betfred.com, said.
“Inspired’s Rush Live products are a unique and exciting addition to Betfred’s online offering, and we look forward to bringing yet more on-demand product variants to customers in the New Year.”