News in brief: Betfred awarded Tote; Ladbrokes taking bets on WSOP
The bookmaker has fought off competition from Martin Broughton's Sports Investment Partners.
Betfred has acquired state-owned bookmaker the Tote in a deal worth £265m, the company has announced. The figure is comprised of an initial payment of £150m with further payments – including interest accrued – totalling £115m. Betfred has revealed that “As part of the transaction [it] will be awarded an exclusive seven year licence to operate pools betting on UK racecourses and is acquiring the Tote’s 517 shops and online businesses,” although the Tote brand will remain on all UK racecourses. The company fought off competition from Martin Broughton’s Sports Investment Partners, the only other one of the original 10 bidders to make it through to the final round of bidding.
Ladbrokes has begun taking bets on the turnout at the main event of this year’s World Series of Poker, with the bookmaker offering odds of 15/8 on a turnout of 5,000-5,749 runners and the same odds on a turnout of between 4,250 and 4,999. The odds of 5/1 on more than 6,500 runners suggests Ladbrokes doubts last year’s turnout of 7,319 will be matched.
Former European Union commissioner Charlie McCreevy has joined WorldSpreads as a non-executive director. McCreevy, who left his post as commissioner in 2009, is expected to help the spread-betting company grow across Europe.
Playtech has launched mobile casino games for Buongiorno‘s Winga brand in Italy. Buongiorno was added to Playtech’s casino platform in December with the Italian market in mind.
Betfair has launched a new customer commitment, making 14 promises in areas including customer and data protection, integrity in sport, and customer service. The company has also announced today that it has appointed former BSkyB employee Alasdair Wright as global head of customer marketing and loyalty.
Morgan Stanley has upgraded its rating for Betfair to “overweight”. Analyst Vaughan Lewis said: “We believe that the bad news since its Oct 2010 listing is now well understood, and we see scope for outperformance from here due to a low valuation, a re-acceleration in growth as new products come online, cost cutting and potential surprises from new markets.”
Betware has launched a mobile solution with the Icelandic national lottery, Ãslensk Getspá. The agreement will allow Ãslensk Getspá customers to play lottery games on iPhones and Android smartphones.
Microgaming is offering the highest ever online slots prize as part of its Grand Slam of Slots promotion, the software provider has claimed. The US$2.43m prize – if won – will come in the form of cash or gold bullion.
Viaden will add its casino, slots and mobile games to Plus-Five Gaming‘s network, under the terms of a deal with the Malta-licensed white-label gaming company.