Retail

Driven by growth in its markets of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Tallinn-listed Eastern European gambling operator Olympic Entertainment Group AS (Olympic) expects a 21% uplift in group revenues for its Q3 2016 performance (period ending 30 September). Presenting its Q3 2016 ‘unaudited’ results Olympic governance reports expected group revenues of €45 million (Q3 2015: €37.4 million). The Eastern European gambling …

Updating the market, Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) has announced that it has agreed a long-term racing media rights deal The Racing Partnership (TRP). The partnership will see TRP content distributed throughout PPB’s Paddy Power retail betting estates from the 1 January 2017. TRP racing content will now include UK all-weather racing from Lingfield Park, Southwell and Wolverhampton tracks. Additionally, Paddy …

The government of New South Wales (NSW) has reversed its decision to ban greyhound racing, stating that the sport had ‘one last chance’ to prove itself against animal cruelty. The Australian greyhound racing industry has come under fire following a string of investigations which found overwhelming evidence of animal cruelty including mass killings and the use of live baits in …

Updating the market, Georgia legislators have this week announced the launch of tender proposal process from lottery and igaming service providers to run its national lottery provisions. The Georgian government has asked interested parties to submit initial proposals for a ten-year contract, outlining multi-channel lottery services for retail and digital provisions. Detailing initial caveats for its tender process, the Georgian …

NetEnt has signed a licensing agreement with Gauselmann’s subsidiary Merkur Gaming Italia to provide gaming content to the Italian Comma 6a retail market, and enable distribution of games to machines owned by other companies. The Italian Comma 6a market is the single largest gaming machine market in Europe with over 350,000 regulated machines available, including approximately 3,000 installed in Italy for …

The Guardian newspaper reports that senior figures in UK racing are concerned regarding the potential UK government blanket ban on sports betting advertising pre the UK 9pm watershed. Racing industry stakeholders are said to be particularly anxious with regards to its new £30 million four-year racing broadcast partnership with ITV which begins in January 2017. The success of ITV as …

Facing competition from Racing Victoria and Seven West Media joint-venture Racing.com, Australian gambling operator Tabcorp has been forced to significantly up its bid in order to maintain its racing broadcast rights in Australia and New Zealand. The Australian Financial Review (AFR) has reported that Tabcorp governance are prepared to pay AUD $26 million (£16 million) to secure racing content rights …

Media group News Corp Australia has confirmed that it has acquired Melbourne-based racing news and odds website Punters.com.au for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition sees the Rupert Murdoch-owned media outlet deepen its ties within the Australian horseracing publishing market, with Punters.com.au disclosing an average monthly viewership of +375,000. Founded in 2008 by CEO Luc Pettett, Punters.com.au started-off as an Australian …

UK business news sources have valued the potential merger of FTSE-listed William Hill Plc and Toronto TSX operator Amaya Inc at a combined value of £4.5-5 billion. On late Friday, William Hill and Amaya governances declared that they had entered initial talks discussing plans for an ‘all stock merger of equals’. The governances’ further detailed that the potential merger was …

The governances of William Hill Plc and Amaya Inc have confirmed that they have entered talks discussing a potential ‘all-stock merger of equals’, with a view of creating a global gambling powerhouse. Reacting to press speculation on late Friday, the governances of FTSE-listed William Hill and Toronto TSX-listed Amaya disclosed that initial merger talks had begun. Amaya the operating company …