Ladbrokes Coral was busy celebrating on Monday overcoming the “last significant hurdle” to its merger agreement. But the news that the company could only fetch £55.5m for the combined parcel of 359 shops it has offloaded to Betfred and Stan James will likely send shudders throughout the sector.
The shops sale was mandated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the summer which said between 350 and 400 outlets needed to be sold in order to satisfy local competition issues from the merging of the two estates.
The disposal will see Betfred pick up 322 shops for a total of £55m while Stan James will pick up the rump of 37 shops for £0.5m. It leaves the Ladbrokes Coral combination with a total of 3,626, the largest estate in the UK, pushing William Hill into second place with 2,330 and with Betfred now rising to 1,688.
The shops in question generated an EBITDA contribution of £28.5m which translates to a multiple of around 2.2 times and analysts were quick to brand the price-tag as disappointing. Richard Stuber at Numis said he had previously pencilled in proceeds of circa £108m, based partly on speculation in the press that Boylesports would be willing to pay around £100m for the parcel.
Indeed, Gala Coral chief executive Carl leaver hinted that other bidders might have been willing to pay more for the shops but Ladbrokes Coral had opted for certainty in order to get the deal over the line and move towards final CMA clearance.
But as Paul Leyland, founder at gambling consultancy Regulus Partners, said the low multiple still reflects the long-term earnings decline at the high-street bookmakers and the potential impact of the Triennial Review of gaming machine stakes and prizes which is likely to be officially announced by the government within weeks.
The news of the divestment sent the analysts back to the drawing board with their valuations for high-street bookmakers. Simon French at Cenkos said the “very disappointing valuation” achieved or these shops “must raise significant questions over the appropriate medium-term multiple with which to value both the enlarged Ladbrokes Coral retail estate and that within William Hill”.
Stuber at Numis said the “risk to future retail cash flows has clearly increased over last few months”.
Although he said he appreciated the forced nature of the sale and cautioned that it couldn’t give a read-across the entire estate, he said it would be prudent to cut its valuation of the combined group’s high-street business from nearly six times EBITDA to a multiple of four times.
The news that it was Betfred and Stan James that had won the race for these divested shops will no doubt be a disappointment to many, including the failed bidders and other interested parties such as the British Horseracing Authority which had lobbied the CMA to ensure true competition by allowing for a new competitor to enter the high street.
As Leyland from Regulus said: “The divestment to two established UK high-street operators will no doubt satisfy the CMA requirement that the acquirers must be qualified. However, it also means that the merger will not create a challenger brand, nor is it likely to drive material change within the (increasingly stale) offer available to British licensed betting office customers, in our view.”
Showing posts with label Stan James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stan James. Show all posts
October 18, 2016
July 10, 2015
Unibet Acquires Stan James Online
Unibet Group plc has today signed an agreement to acquire the online gambling business of Stan James Group plc together with full rights and ownership of the brand. The transaction does not include the UK shops business operated under the Stan James brand, which for a transitional period has been granted rights to the brand. Stan James is one of the most well respected online gambling operators in the locally regulated UK market offering online sports betting, casino and poker through its web site www.stanjames.com.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in the second half of the third quarter 2015.
The transaction will significantly strengthen Unibet’s position in the large UK online market which is estimated to be worth around GBP 2.7 billion in 2015 according to H2 Gambling Capital and thus is one of the largest on-line markets globally that has already re-regulated with attractive terms and conditions. The acquisition price of GBP 19 million is payable fully in cash and will be adjusted for customer liabilities that Unibet will take over on completion.
Stan James has approximately 150 employees based in Gibraltar. In line with standard EU rules on the acquisition of a business, the employees will transfer their employment to Unibet.
In the five month period to 31 May 2015, the GWR of Stan James online business was GBP 10.5 million and the EBITDA, after charging UK point of consumption tax, was GBP 1.4 million. On an annualised basis the acquisition multiple is therefore around 6 times 2015 EBITDA, without taking account of any future synergies from the transaction. Such synergies can consist of more effective marketing and economies of scale associated with third-party procurement of products. For the second quarter of 2015, the number of quarterly active customers amounted to 84,266.
“We have long been looking at strengthening our position in the UK online market. Stan James as an operator is one of the most well-respected in the UK market with particular strengths in horse-racing and other British sports. Stan James has had a long presence in the British market where there are few companies of this size available for acquisition. Since Unibet has only recently targeted the UK market there is little overlap between our respective businesses. Over time we see a significant potential to increase the breadth of the Stan James product range, such as live streaming, casino and improving the mobile offering,” says Henrik Tjärnström, CEO Unibet.
Denis Kelly, CEO of Stan James Online says, “We are delighted to join the wider Unibet group. There is a substantial market opportunity in the UK following the re-regulation. Through the combination of Unibet’s expertise in marketing and financial strength, together with Stan James’ high quality sports and racing betting offering aimed at the UK market, I am confident that we can increase substantially the combined Group’s market share in the UK. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the shareholders of Stan James for their strong support of the business.”
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in the second half of the third quarter 2015.
The transaction will significantly strengthen Unibet’s position in the large UK online market which is estimated to be worth around GBP 2.7 billion in 2015 according to H2 Gambling Capital and thus is one of the largest on-line markets globally that has already re-regulated with attractive terms and conditions. The acquisition price of GBP 19 million is payable fully in cash and will be adjusted for customer liabilities that Unibet will take over on completion.
Stan James has approximately 150 employees based in Gibraltar. In line with standard EU rules on the acquisition of a business, the employees will transfer their employment to Unibet.
In the five month period to 31 May 2015, the GWR of Stan James online business was GBP 10.5 million and the EBITDA, after charging UK point of consumption tax, was GBP 1.4 million. On an annualised basis the acquisition multiple is therefore around 6 times 2015 EBITDA, without taking account of any future synergies from the transaction. Such synergies can consist of more effective marketing and economies of scale associated with third-party procurement of products. For the second quarter of 2015, the number of quarterly active customers amounted to 84,266.
“We have long been looking at strengthening our position in the UK online market. Stan James as an operator is one of the most well-respected in the UK market with particular strengths in horse-racing and other British sports. Stan James has had a long presence in the British market where there are few companies of this size available for acquisition. Since Unibet has only recently targeted the UK market there is little overlap between our respective businesses. Over time we see a significant potential to increase the breadth of the Stan James product range, such as live streaming, casino and improving the mobile offering,” says Henrik Tjärnström, CEO Unibet.
Denis Kelly, CEO of Stan James Online says, “We are delighted to join the wider Unibet group. There is a substantial market opportunity in the UK following the re-regulation. Through the combination of Unibet’s expertise in marketing and financial strength, together with Stan James’ high quality sports and racing betting offering aimed at the UK market, I am confident that we can increase substantially the combined Group’s market share in the UK. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the shareholders of Stan James for their strong support of the business.”
June 25, 2012
Founders of Stan James face Tax tribunal
The Stan James family founders are embroiled in a battle with the taxman after they moved part of the business to Gibraltar.
Stephen and Anne Fisher and son Peter are heading for a tribunal hearing after they moved their phone and internet betting business to a Gibraltar arm of its parent company in 2000.
Revenue & Customs says the move was made solely to avoid UK gambling duties. Court documents show that it wants to tax the telebetting business’s profit as if it were the shareholders’ personal income. This will certainly be at the higher rate of income tax.
A normal Gibraltar-based company would pay corporation tax at only 22 per cent on profits.
The special tax charge kicks in if a company moves offshore merely to try to pay tax at a lower rate and is designed to discourage individuals from doing this.
Firms can move without incurring the charge only if genuine commercial reasons for doing so can be proved.
Gambling groups have long battled the Government over the way it taxes telebetting, with many big names being run from Gibraltar.
Details of the Stan James tax battle emerged as part of a row over what documents should be revealed in relation to the case.
Stephen and Anne Fisher and son Peter are heading for a tribunal hearing after they moved their phone and internet betting business to a Gibraltar arm of its parent company in 2000.
Revenue & Customs says the move was made solely to avoid UK gambling duties. Court documents show that it wants to tax the telebetting business’s profit as if it were the shareholders’ personal income. This will certainly be at the higher rate of income tax.
A normal Gibraltar-based company would pay corporation tax at only 22 per cent on profits.
The special tax charge kicks in if a company moves offshore merely to try to pay tax at a lower rate and is designed to discourage individuals from doing this.
Firms can move without incurring the charge only if genuine commercial reasons for doing so can be proved.
Gambling groups have long battled the Government over the way it taxes telebetting, with many big names being run from Gibraltar.
Details of the Stan James tax battle emerged as part of a row over what documents should be revealed in relation to the case.
May 11, 2012
Belgium Adds To Online Poker Blacklist
The Belgium Gaming Commission has expanded its blacklist of companies which internet service providers in the country must block.
New additions to the list include bwin.com, betsson.com, bet-at-home.com, betclic.com, williamhill.com, stanjames.com, and betfair.com, all of which offer online poker.
These companies join the likes of 888.com, titanpoker.be, winamax.fr and everestpoker.be.
Belgian authorities claim the blacklist offer opportunities to legitimate operators who apply for licences while protecting players from ‘illegal’ sites which operate without a licence in the country.
New additions to the list include bwin.com, betsson.com, bet-at-home.com, betclic.com, williamhill.com, stanjames.com, and betfair.com, all of which offer online poker.
These companies join the likes of 888.com, titanpoker.be, winamax.fr and everestpoker.be.
Belgian authorities claim the blacklist offer opportunities to legitimate operators who apply for licences while protecting players from ‘illegal’ sites which operate without a licence in the country.
May 02, 2012
Hodgson appointment a bitter pill for sportsbooks
Roy Hodgson has been announced as the new England manager and will take over after his current side, Bodog-sponsored West Brom, have played their last two games of the Premier League season. Hodgson comes into the job as one of the only managers to be handed the poisoned chalice with significant experience at international level. He has guided both Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates with the former reaching a high of third on the FIFA world rankings whilst boss.
The bookies haven’t had the best of times since Fabio Capello was sacked back in February and needless to say, today’s appointment wasn’t a particularly good one as far as they were concerned. Picking long-time favorite ‘arry Redknapp would have been a winner for a number of firms with SkyBet one of those that were worried about Redknapp not being appointed back in February. Today Helen Jacob was in somber mood.
“Harry Redknapp would have been a brilliant result for us. As Redknapp had been such a short price for such a long time, customers had looked at bigger priced alternatives. The best backed and most realistic of which was Hodgson, who came in for consistent support at around the 16/1 mark in recent months.”
Stan James was in the same camp, with spokesperson Rory Jiwani telling us: “In the end, Roy Hodgson turned out to be a five-figure loser for StanJames.com. Immediately after Fabio Capello’s resignation, we decided to keep Harry Redknapp on our side, as he looked a certainty for the job. But in the last month, we were best price Redknapp and hardly took a bet as the uncertainty mounted.”
William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe believed the FA took the easy option by picking Hodgson over Redknapp.
He said: “Harry was always favourite – largely because the media would not hear of anyone else getting the job and gave the impression they ‘knew’ it was a matter of when, not if. Personally, I always believed that the FA would probably revert to ‘Brian ‘Too Hot To Handle’ Clough-mode, and that even if they didn’t, Harry, a man who appears to love to be loved, might believe that a couple of England defeats may undo all the work he has done over the years making himself popular with pundits and punters alike.”
Sharpe also added that Hodgson wasn’t alone in receiving support from the punters, adding: “Roy Hodgson was not without punter support, however, so it was not one-way traffic in the market, with Stuart Pearce also coming in for a fair amount of betting support.”
Heading into the European Championships, the sportsbooks are split on what effect the appointment of Hodgson will have on the attitudes of bettors looking to get behind the team. Charlie McCann from BetVictor spoke to us earlier and was far from glowing of the new boss, his belief being that the “punter in the street” won’t be getting behind Roy.
He added: “Roy Hodgson has never captured the public’s imagination and I just wonder if punters will desert England as a result of what has generally been perceived as a conservative/unimaginative but safe appointment.”
Jiwani at Stan James commented that the former West Brom boss has his “work cut out to convince England fans that he is the right man for the job”.
The bookies haven’t had the best of times since Fabio Capello was sacked back in February and needless to say, today’s appointment wasn’t a particularly good one as far as they were concerned. Picking long-time favorite ‘arry Redknapp would have been a winner for a number of firms with SkyBet one of those that were worried about Redknapp not being appointed back in February. Today Helen Jacob was in somber mood.
“Harry Redknapp would have been a brilliant result for us. As Redknapp had been such a short price for such a long time, customers had looked at bigger priced alternatives. The best backed and most realistic of which was Hodgson, who came in for consistent support at around the 16/1 mark in recent months.”
Stan James was in the same camp, with spokesperson Rory Jiwani telling us: “In the end, Roy Hodgson turned out to be a five-figure loser for StanJames.com. Immediately after Fabio Capello’s resignation, we decided to keep Harry Redknapp on our side, as he looked a certainty for the job. But in the last month, we were best price Redknapp and hardly took a bet as the uncertainty mounted.”
William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe believed the FA took the easy option by picking Hodgson over Redknapp.
He said: “Harry was always favourite – largely because the media would not hear of anyone else getting the job and gave the impression they ‘knew’ it was a matter of when, not if. Personally, I always believed that the FA would probably revert to ‘Brian ‘Too Hot To Handle’ Clough-mode, and that even if they didn’t, Harry, a man who appears to love to be loved, might believe that a couple of England defeats may undo all the work he has done over the years making himself popular with pundits and punters alike.”
Sharpe also added that Hodgson wasn’t alone in receiving support from the punters, adding: “Roy Hodgson was not without punter support, however, so it was not one-way traffic in the market, with Stuart Pearce also coming in for a fair amount of betting support.”
Heading into the European Championships, the sportsbooks are split on what effect the appointment of Hodgson will have on the attitudes of bettors looking to get behind the team. Charlie McCann from BetVictor spoke to us earlier and was far from glowing of the new boss, his belief being that the “punter in the street” won’t be getting behind Roy.
He added: “Roy Hodgson has never captured the public’s imagination and I just wonder if punters will desert England as a result of what has generally been perceived as a conservative/unimaginative but safe appointment.”
Jiwani at Stan James commented that the former West Brom boss has his “work cut out to convince England fans that he is the right man for the job”.
October 30, 2007
32Red sells Bet Direct to Stan James
32Red has sold its Bet Direct sportsbook to Stan James for £5.75m, as revealed by eGaming Review at the end of September.
The news came with the publicaiton of the firm’s results for the first half of the year which showed total revenues increasing of 47.2% to £9.2m. However, casino revenues were almost static and poker revenues fell nearly 4% over the period.
32Red bought Bet Direct in June 2006 from Sportech for £12.5m. The company said it will use proceeds from the sale to increase the profile of its casino, poker and sportsbetting products and expansion into new territories. Bookmakers Stan James and Boylesports were reportedly in the running to buy Bet Direct, but Boylesports chief executive Daniel O’Mahoney counted his company out of the race late last week.
In its statement, 32Red said that further to a strategic review of both brands and a review of the potential business development opportunities for the company, it had accepted the offer of £5.75m for the intellectual property and “certain assets” of the Betdirect business. Chief executive Ed Ware said: “The sale of the Bet Direct brand allows us to channel our marketing and management focus on the core 32Red brand.”
Ware added that mobile gaming services and an integrated bingo offering will be added to the product range in the final quarter of this year.
32Red reported casino revenues of £4.6m for the six month period to the end of June, a 1.7% increase on the same period in 2006, and a drop in poker revenues of 3.8% over the six month period in 2007, compared to revenues of £0.6m in 2006.
The number of active customers grew to 75,911, compared with 44,539 in 2006.
Chief executive Ed Ware said: “Whilst the recent UK legislative changes effective from 1 September 2007 allow greater access to the UK market, we have identified a number of new territories into which we intend to market the 32Red brand.”
http://www.egrmagazine.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2226&d=pg_dtl_art_news&h=0&f=0
The news came with the publicaiton of the firm’s results for the first half of the year which showed total revenues increasing of 47.2% to £9.2m. However, casino revenues were almost static and poker revenues fell nearly 4% over the period.
32Red bought Bet Direct in June 2006 from Sportech for £12.5m. The company said it will use proceeds from the sale to increase the profile of its casino, poker and sportsbetting products and expansion into new territories. Bookmakers Stan James and Boylesports were reportedly in the running to buy Bet Direct, but Boylesports chief executive Daniel O’Mahoney counted his company out of the race late last week.
In its statement, 32Red said that further to a strategic review of both brands and a review of the potential business development opportunities for the company, it had accepted the offer of £5.75m for the intellectual property and “certain assets” of the Betdirect business. Chief executive Ed Ware said: “The sale of the Bet Direct brand allows us to channel our marketing and management focus on the core 32Red brand.”
Ware added that mobile gaming services and an integrated bingo offering will be added to the product range in the final quarter of this year.
32Red reported casino revenues of £4.6m for the six month period to the end of June, a 1.7% increase on the same period in 2006, and a drop in poker revenues of 3.8% over the six month period in 2007, compared to revenues of £0.6m in 2006.
The number of active customers grew to 75,911, compared with 44,539 in 2006.
Chief executive Ed Ware said: “Whilst the recent UK legislative changes effective from 1 September 2007 allow greater access to the UK market, we have identified a number of new territories into which we intend to market the 32Red brand.”
http://www.egrmagazine.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2226&d=pg_dtl_art_news&h=0&f=0
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