Ladbrokes owner shares high revenues amid takeover approach

Ladbrokes, one of the most profitable bookmakers may soon fall under the ownership of US-based bookmaker, DraftKings. Last month, the firm, which also owns online sports betting brand Coral, was the subject of close to $16 billion approach from DraftKings.

Yan Zhylinski
Yan Zhylinski
Ladbrokes owner shares high revenues amid takeover approach

Entain, Ladbrokes parent company recently issued a statement saying that revenues for the past 3 months have been boosted by continental online growth, along with improvements in its United Kingdom betting shops, something that must have made DraftKings to offer them roughly $16billion for full ownership.

DraftKings has up until 5pm on Tuesday October 19 to formally make a submission of their offer. Entain, however, didn’t reference the takeover interest, highlighting to investors that its performance in the industry has been business as usual. Ladbrokes did well in its 3rd quarter to September 30, with net gaming revenue increasing by 4% against the same period in 2020.

Online revenues at Ladbrokes increased by 10%, something that marked their 23rd consecutive quarter of double-digit online growth. The bookmaker argued that the driving factor of such an increase was due to strong performances in some of its major markets, including Brazil and Australia even though it witnessed a weaker performance in Germany.

Meanwhile, Ladbroke’s stores business witnessed a 1% growth as highlighted by United Kingdom volumes which were recovering from to pre-Covid levels. Now, Ladbrokes owner Entain seem to be mulling a $16 billion takeover offer from DraftKings after rejecting an earlier offer of $14.6 billion. It should be noted that they also rejected an $8.1 billion approach from casino operator MGM Resorts, another American suitor, earlier this year.

With plenty of US-based bookmakers looking to expand overseas and own the expertise of London-based bookmakers, many are waiting to see if Ladbrokes will become an American-owned firm, especially now that America is opening up to sports betting like never before.

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