Betr up for sale after failed PointsBet bid

Australian challenger operator Betr has been put up for sale after receiving a flurry of interest from potential buyers.

Founded last year by News Corp, Tekkorp Capital and industry veteran Matt Tripp, the firm is currently assessing opportunities to sell the business.

Betr had previously been considering acquiring the Australian arm of PointsBet, but those discussions were terminated earlier this year.

Since launching in October 2022, the challenger brand has been on an aggressive push in the Australian market.

This included concerted marketing effort to coincide with horseracing’s Melbourne Cup last year.

However, these efforts, which included odds of 100/1 and 20/1 on the race, eventually saw the firm hit with a record A$210,000 fine by Liquor & Gaming NSW.

The fine came after the regulator established that the ads had breached regulations, insofar as that they were an inducement to participate in gambling, including to open an account or bet more frequently

Betr has chosen Barrenjoey to approach interested parties as part of the sale process. The bank had previously been employed in relation to Betr’s potential acquisition of PointsBet’s Australian division.

In a statement to the Australian Financial Review, a Betr spokesperson said: “Given our unprecedented launch and continuing momentum, we have been approached by a number of international and domestic operators seeking to acquire the business.

“We assess all opportunities with the aim of maximising value for shareholders. Our primary focus remains identifying and executing opportunities to further our ambition to be a tier one operator.”