UK Gambling giant, Ladbrokes, has confirmed that it is currently involved in talks to acquire Betdaq, the Irish betting exchange platform, from its tycoon owner, Dermot Desmond.
However, Ladbrokes has made it quite clear that there is no guarantee that any agreement will be reached between them and the betting exchange. It has been rumored that Ladbrokes could pay up to £30 million for the acquisition if the deal materializes.
Ladbrokes already uses Betdaq’s technology in order to price and hedge its customers’ bets and is hoping that by purchasing the platform it will complement its sports betting services. Analysts agree that Ladbroke’s acquisition of Betdaq would result in the sports betting giant broadening its existing fixed odds betting platform.
Ladbrokes was unsuccessful in its previous attempts to purchase 888 Holdings and Sportingbet and analysts are, therefore, not sure that the deal with Betdaq will materialize either.
After Richard Ames, head of Ladbrokes’ online division was given his marching papers last year Ladbrokes’ Chief Executive revealed that growth of the business would be more organically focused in future.
Betdaq was established by Dermot Desmond 13 years ago in order to rival Betfair, the largest betting exchange but failed to make it in the industry which resulted in Betfair currently holding 90% of the market share.
Betdaq is the trade name of Global Betting Exchange and is an unlimited company that is based in Ireland. The company currently employs over 100 people and has its headquarters located in the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin.
