Part 1: Introduction – piecing together the Nordic jigsaw
Across sectors — and not just in the gambling
Notably, it would signal that company’s
world — there is a belief among management entry into the UK high-street bookmaking
teams and their advisers in the logic of the business, an area where the uncertainty caused
numbers alone, that a combined entity’s bottom by the UK government’s triennial review into
line will be more than the sum of its parts. stakes and prizes levels for gaming machines
This is certainly true in som e cases. GVC is
is commonly thought to have held back any
the most obvious example in terms of B2C: further deals involving both Ladbrokes Coral
successive M&A deals have catapulted the and William Hill.
company from being a marginal player to one of
the leading consolidators.
Going by the newspaper reports circulating
In this sense, the review is having as much
impact on the online sector as it is in the
land-based arena and the final resolution
in the summer, GVC hopes to play a further role early in 2018 will have reverberations well away
in future potential combinations via a tie-up from the UK’s betting shops. Says Anderson:
with Ladbrokes Coral. Such a deal would further “The FOBT ruling may trigger further
cement GVC chief executive Kenny Alexander’s consolidation and will have massive ramifications
reputation as the king of the dealmakers, for those with a large retail presence. I think
although it would mark a step change in his we are at the cusp of significant change in the
company’s progress to date. online sector.”
iGaming Business Market Monitor • The Nordics • May 2018
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