Retail

The continued restructure of Crown Resorts and its business assets has earned Australian casino and leisure magnate James Packer approximately AUS $600 million (£375 million) in cash last week. Packer’s personal wealth vehicle Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH) informed the Australian ASX that it had sold AUS $101 million of ‘debt securities’ in Packer’s Crown Resorts enterprise. Further to the debt securities payment, …

Speaking on Newstalk’s ‘Breakfast Business’ show, Mark O’Neil Chief Financial Officer of Irish independent bookmaker Boylesports stated his firm’s intent on growing its UK retail network. O’Neil detailed that despite losing its bid to takeover Ladbrokes-Coral merger betting shop ‘offcuts’ which would have given his firm a ‘solid retail platform’, BoyleSports will move to pursue its long awaited plans of …

Despite being deemed a ‘non-viable solution’ by the European Commission, the German Bundestag (lower-house) yesterday approved the progression of 2nd Modified State Treaty on Gambling (Glücksspieländerungsstaatsvertrag). Progressing the treaty, which allows a ‘transitional arrangement’ for bookmakers to offer online betting services as the German government revamps its national gambling framework expected in 2018. Last October, German officials presented the Second …

Fortuna Entertainment continues its M&A expansion within the licensed Romanian gambling market. The Eastern European bookmaker confirmed this week that it was closing in on the acquisition of Fortbet Holdings gambling assets. Updating the market, Fortuna detailed that it was in the final stages of negotiations for the Fortbet properties of Bet Active Concept SRL, Bet Zone SRL, Public Slots SRL and Slot Arena SR. …

Bookmakers already celebrating a successful start to Cheltenham week will have further cause for celebration with the news that the betting industry will continue to be exempt from European money laundering rules. There was a real danger that the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive would encompass bookmakers given the classification of gambling as a high risk area for money laundering. …

The Australian Federal Court has today approved ASX-listed Tabcorp Holding’s AUS $45 million (£27 million) settlement with financial watchdog AUSTRAC relating to severe breaches of its money-laundering code and corporate compliance failures. Tabcorp governance has agreed to pay the record fine, on the condition that AUSTRAC withdraws any further allegations of non-compliance against the company. As reported in February, Tabcorp …

Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Warren Buffett the world’s most powerful hedge fund magnate with a speculated wealth of $76 billion remains tepid on the potential of legalising US sports betting. Buffett a fan of college basketball, who this February repeated his $1 million-a-year sweepstake for Berkshire Hathaway employees to predict the correct ‘March Madness’ brackets of the NCAA Basketball Championships, …

Caesars Entertainment Corporation (CEC) has confirmed the appointment of Jim Firth as its new Venue Director for EMEA properties. The appointment of Firth as European venue director will see him takeover immediate management of Caesars famous London Casino property ‘The Sportsman’ (Marylebone). Firth has over 25 years’ experience working in Casinos and the leisure industry. Prior to joining Caesars European …

Speaking to The Evening Standard on the opening day of the 2017 Cheltenham Festival, Ladbrokes Coral CEO Jim Mullen has warned the UK government that stringent limits on fixed-odds-betting-terminals (FOBTs) could force the closure of bookmakers and risk a significant number of job losses. UK bookmakers await the publication of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) official industry …

Industry virtual sports content provider VSoftCo Group has entered the Argentine gambling market by agreeing on a multi-year virtual sports supplier terms with Impresora Internacional de Valores S.A (IVISA) an Argentine licensed lottery and gaming solutions supplier. Updating the market, VSoftCo will act as lead supplier of virtual sports content to IVISA syndicated retail outlets and online properties. The partnership …