Poll: Is the proposed Sportingbet takeover a good fit?
William Hill and GVC potentially poised to launch a joint takeover bid for operator, which derives much of its revenues from regulated markets.
Barely a year after the collapse of talks over a merger with Ladbrokes, Sportingbet is the subject of further speculation with a joint takeover bid from William Hill and GVC now potentially on the cards.
While no formal bid has been made, the parties confirmed last week that preliminary talks had begun over a deal worth an estimated £350m, with both Hills and GVC set to ascertain how good a fit such a takeover would be for their respective businesses before their 16 October deadline to submit a bid.
Under the terms of the proposals, William Hill would be looking to take over Sportingbet’s Australian business as well as “certain other locally licensed businesses,” while the largely unregulated remainder would go the way of Betboo operator GVC.
Australia contributed some 90% of Sportingbet’s profits in the operator’s most recent set of interim numbers, with last year’s acquisition of Northern Territory licensed Centrebet immediately beginning to pay dividends. The deal would allow Hills to re-enter a market from which it withdrew in June ahead of a hearing with the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Indeed before the Centrebet deal was first mooted, Hills had itself looked at the operator with a view to a potential acquisition.
While the other “locally licensed businesses” are not specified, it has been speculated that the descriptor could refer to Denmark and/or Spain, where Sportingbet has not only obtained local licences ahead of the market opening but also possesses strong local brands in the form of Miapuesta (in Spain) and the recently acquired Danbook and Scandic (in Denmark).
Hills declined to apply for an egaming licence in Denmark ahead of the market opening in January this year, and therefore a takeover of Sportingbet’s dot.dk business might be seen as filling a gap for the operator.
GVC, meanwhile, has already seen some benefit from Sportingbet’s unregulated operations after its B2B partner East Pioneer Corporation acquired the operator’s Turkish-facing Superbahis business last year.
Its focus within the framework of the proposed Sportingbet deal may be the South American market, where Miapuesta began to make its mark in recent years and where its Betboo brand continues to thrive, with revenues rising 32.1% year-on-year in July’s H1 results. The integration of Sportingbet’s South American operations and customer base could well complement a brand which is outperforming GVC’s CasinoClub arm.
With this in mind, eGaming Review wants to know if you think the proposed takeover of Sportingbet represents a good fit for both William Hill and GVC. To vote, see the right-hand side of the page or visit the eGR LinkedIn group.