SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Having reported a ‘record breaking’ revenue performance for its H1 2016 results, the governance of 888 Holdings (888) has dismissed industry rumours of a potential merger with Rank Group (Rank).
Following the failure of a Rank-888 joint consortium takeover bid for William Hill valued at £3.4 billion, the betting industry has been rife with rumours of a potential + £1.6 billion tie-up between Rank and 888.
However, 888 CEO Itai Frieberger moved to dismiss the speculation yesterday, telling UK news sources that at present his firm could standalone.
“888 will continue to grow its business with or without M&A” Frieberger argued. “Right now the Rank standalone [deal] is not something that we’d like to do,”.
Frieberger’s merger rejection follows last week’s news that Rank governance saw rationale in potentially merging its assets with 888.
In a sector that has witnessed mass consolidation and M&A activity, industry analysts hold 888 Holdings as one of the last remaining jewels. The FTSE-250 operator has proven to be proficient in building independent in-house gambling platforms for online casino, poker and bingo.
With online gambling enterprises facing higher operational costs and tax charges, in-house technology development has become sought after competency for M&A hungry gambling operators.
