SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
UK gaming operator, Ladbrokes has confirmed the purchase of Dublin based on course bookmaker Chronicle Bookmakers for a reported €6 million deal. Ladbrokes revealed in its interim results that it has bought Chronicle bookmakers, a leading Irish on-course book maker.
Chronicle which has its on-course betting presence throughout the Republic of Ireland, the track operator also operated a short lived sports betting website, BetChronicle, which was closed last October. It is strongly believed that Ladbrokes will aim to relaunch or utilize Chronicle Bookmakers online presence.
Chronicle Bookmaker are co-owned by Irish multi-millionaire investor and financier Dermott Desmond and Justin Carthy. This is not the first time that Mr Desmond has been involved in a corporate acquisition deal with the UK Gaming operator. Desmond has had prior dealings with Ladbrokes during the acquisition of Irish based sports betting exchange Betdaq which Mr Desmond had a financial stake.
Ladbrokes purchased using €15m in cash and €18.6m in Ladbrokes’ shares, additional payments are contingent on certain performance metrics being achieved by the business over a four-year period after to complement of the Betdaq acquisition.
