SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
FTSE online gambling group GVC Holdings has confirmed that it will offload its ‘Headlong Limited’ Turkish business unit relinquishing any payment from the asset.
GVC governance undertakes its decision in order to help secure its £4 billion takeover of Ladbrokes Coral Plc, which is currently being reviewed by the UK Competitions & Markets Authority (CMA), which has set a 21 February deadline for industry comment.
As the deal leader, GVC’s Turkish market operations are regarded as a sticking point in its pursuit of the larger Ladbrokes Coral FTSE enterprise.
Deal stakeholders believe that GVC’s operations are perhaps too exposed to Turkish revenues, a territory where online betting is currently illegal.
Preparing to present its formal takeover offer to Ladbrokes Coral investors, last November GVC governance announced that it has agreed to sell its entire Turkish enterprise to Malta technology group Ropso Ltd for €150 million.
Agreeing on sale terms with Ropso, GVC detailed that it would operate Headlong and its associated businesses for a ‘transitional period’ of six months. However, GVC governance will now move for a clean and complete break from any Turkish activity.
Ropso a former Turkish market technology partner of GVC will gain control of Headlong assets without paying any deal instalments which had been previously agreed over a period of five years.
GVC’s complete Turkish market exit will cost the gambling group circa €46 million. GVC reassures investors, that moving forward it will receive no cash or service no debt related to the Turkish market.
