Ladbrokes In Talks Over Betdaq Acquisition

Beleaguered British bookmaker Ladbrokes could be seeking to reignite its faltering online business in a deal with Irish betting exchange Betdaq.

The company addressed press speculation in a statement which said, “Ladbrokes enjoys a close commercial cooperation with Betdaq and can confirm discussions regarding a potential future acquisition. 



“Negotiations are ongoing though at this stage there is no certainty that an agreement will be reached.“

Betdaq, which is owned by billionaire Dermot Desomond who also has a stake in Ladbrokes, no longer operates online poker.

It is the second largest online betting exchange in the UK.

Ladbrokes has already tried and failed acquire 888 and Sportingbet.

Analyst Daniel Stewart & Co. commented, “Whilst we see this as a positive step to solving issues in the [Ladbrokes] online business our concern is that a betting exchange needs liquidity. Betfair is a clear leader in the field of betting exchanges and therefore in our view it will prove difficult to compete in this market. Furthermore, the betting exchange model in our view still shows limited growth potential due to its exclusion in other markets outside of the UK.”

”…in our view we do not see the Betdaq acquisition as a solution to the issue. However it does give the business the ability to offer customers something different to traditional fixed odds betting.”

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