In a remarkable deal which is reportedly worth up to £5 billion, leading sportsbetting operators Betfair and Paddy Power have agreed to merge. “We fundamentally believe this industry is all about scale. By putting together two distinct but phenomenally strong brands, we'll have a market-leading position in the U.K., Ireland, Australia and in the United States,” said the Betfair chief executive Breon Corcoran.
Corcoran also happened to be the previous COO of Paddy Power and is set to become the CEO of the newly merged firm. The final details of this merger are still being ironed out as we speak and it has been reported that any shareholders in Paddy Power will get to keep hold of 52% of the combined business and according to BBC News, the investors in Betfair will own the remaining 48%.
In 2014, Paddy Power and Betfair recorded an incredible £438.6 million and £393.6 million respectively in Gross Gaming Yields (GGY), ranking fifth and sixth in the world’s top interactive gaming companies. Market leaders Bet365, ranked at number 1 in GGY in 2014, earning an incredible £1.28 billion. This will become the latest in a growing trend of mergers between some of the biggest and most successful names from the gambling industry.
Just a couple of months ago some of you may remember when Amaya Gaming (a Montreal based company) bought Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars for a staggering $4.9 billion. Also, at the time of writing GVC Holdings and 888 Holdings are both competing to gain control of bwin.party and according to further reports, both parties have offered as much as $1.4 billion+ to purchase bwin.party. Also on the horizon is a possible merger between Coral and Ladbrokes and this would make the newly formed firm one of the largest operators of land-based sportsbetting shops in the United Kingdom.
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