British online gaming giant Ladbrokes made news in the last few days for their recent expansion into the Australian gambling market with the purchase of the company Gaming investments which owns Bookmaker.com.au and Panda Gaming, a marketing company focused on sports and racing.
Ladbrokes is reported to have spent about 13 million Euros up front and will pay a backend based on the success of the companies over a three year span.
According to a blog on online-casinos.com, Ladbrokes had a successful year in 2012 by employing about 1400 workers and making over 190.3 million Euros.
The online-casino blog also notes, “Richard Glynn, CEO of Ladbrokes said the move was in keeping with the firm’s chosen strategy to extend its geographic reach to other key regulated markets.”
This move into the Australian market has left some saying that Ladbrokes is following suit as opposed to leading the way.
In an article at the Telegraph, Natalie Thomas points to the fact that despite being the second largest bookmaker in the UK, Ladbrokes has been beaten into the Australian market by rivals such as William Hill, Bet365 and Paddy Power. Thomas quotes Nick Batram, Peel Hunt analyst as saying that, “Ladbrokes was playing ‘catch-up yet again”. She also notes that such investments in the Australian market come before a new gambling tax hits Britain next year.
Join the Conversation